CIO update – the path back to normality?
Volatility has remained high since the onset of the pandemic and is expected to remain as news headlines swing from positive to negative about economic and virus containment progress. Concern remains around infection rates in many parts of the world but the path back to some kind of normality in Europe continued during June, along with positive news about virus treatment drug trials.
Sustainable consumers sleeping on pension power
More than half of consumers have taken steps to be more environmentally or socially responsible in their daily lives, however, this is yet to be extended to their financial decisions, a recent Nest survey has shown*. Only 7% of those surveyed have actively switched to a financial services provider that promotes corporate responsibility and even fewer, 5%, said they had made a similar decision with their pension and investment.
Can you spot excessive risk in a pension scheme?
When it comes to investments, risk isn’t a bad word. A certain amount is necessary for any reward to be gained. Upside risk is the measure of the potential for an investment to gain in value. Measures of downside risk estimate how much the investment could decline in value if market conditions changed. Some measures reveal the worst-case scenario that shows an investor exactly how much they stand to lose.
CIO update – importance of diversification to weather market volatility
Volatility on the world’s stock markets has continued in April, mainly because of the coronavirus pandemic. However, share prices have rallied from their mid-March lows. World stock markets are around 10 per cent to 20 per cent lower than at the start of 2020. Despite the bad economic news, investors are trying to look through the crisis to the recovery.
