Our 2024 year in review
Just 12 months ago, we ended 2023 with some hope. Hope, that inflationary pressures were finally stabilising, offering better prospects for financial markets and global economies after two years of rising prices and high interest rates. As we reflect on the year that’s been, we’d encourage you to pour a festive tipple, grab a mince […]
2025 – The year of resilience
In the economic outlook season, the key theme is policy uncertainty. Change will accelerate, some of it will be good and some of it will be a miss. Within the space of less than 45 days we have touched upon: We have described a stock market in search (but not fear) of correction, in a […]
The impact of Labour’s plans on women
Labour’s commitment to women’s equality can already be felt in the representation of female MPs elected to Parliament in 2024, now at a record high of 40.6%, a significant jump from 34.2% in 2019. Women now make up a significant proportion of Labour’s Cabinet including Rachel Reeves, Labour’s new Chancellor; Liz Kendall, Secretary of State […]
Harnessing your financial power – How are women investing their wealth?
We surveyed over 350 high-net-worth women across the UK to understand how they are investing their wealth.
Practical Planning Ahead of Tax Year End
Each tax year, you have a set of reliefs and allowances you can take advantage of, helping make your money work harder for you.
This is a good (US) economy
Despite professional forecasters predicting a recession in early 2024, late last year, one of our senior analysts at Mazars, James Hunter Jones, insisted on adding a “Dream” scenario in our forecasts: one where the economy would perform well, and still inflation would drop. We did, and assigned an outlier probability to it.
Let’s see how James fared versus the world.
2024 market forecast
Given the stock and bond market volatility, it’s hard to know what the starting point for equity valuations and rates as we enter 2024. At the beginning of the year, we said that volatility and geopolitical uncertainty will persist. Stocks and bonds were nearly flat by the end of October and are now up 10% and 5% respectively in just thirty days.
The importance of long-term investing
Challenging market environments can create situations which can lead to some biased decision making. Recognising this will prevent investors from making decisions that could negatively impact their long-term investment performance.
How behavioural biases affect investment decisions
The reason long-term investors like Warren Buffett can consistently earn profits and outperform is because of market inefficiencies. These inefficiencies are inevitable because markets are composed of human beings, who no matter how disciplined, will often make financial decisions that consist of behavioural biases causing them to act on emotion.