Equity

The headwinds to globalisation are more structural than cyclical, which means those in favour of open markets have a serious challenge to overcome.

S&P 500 Buyback Index, which has hit the highest in late 2014/early 2015, had retreated outperformance during most of 2016. With Donald Trump’s victory in November, however, buyback indices and buyback related ETFs again hit the market higher....

2016 has been a better year for emerging market returns after underperforming for many years. However it has been a volatile year and one has had to be an active manger, being selective, tactical and rotating between asset classes and currencies to maximize returns.

We see reflation ? rising nominal growth, wages and inflation – accelerating globally in 2017, led by the U.S. This theme is central to how we suggest positioning portfolios for the coming year, including our preference for value stocks over bond proxies.

Charlie Awdry, China portfolio manager, shares his views on the prospects for Chinese stocks in 2017. He believes the focus on high quality growth companies exposed to long-term consumer trends and cyclical value stocks places his portfolios in good stead to deliver attractive returns for investors.