The sun was shining once again for our investment seminar at the Captains Club in Christchurch, held on the afternoon of Tuesday 21st January 2020.
On a bright crisp day, 70 guests enjoyed the great hospitality and were once again treated to the comforting tones of Sanjay Rijhsinghani, a Partner at LGT Vestra, who effortlessly made sense of what is going on in the world from a financial point of view.
Gary Neild, our Managing Director, kicked off the seminar in his own inimitable style but on this occasion spoke for 25 mins, providing an overview of the developments in and around Blue Sky as a business.
After a short interlude the ‘Gary and Sanjay double act’ engaged the audience, with Sanjay responding to a raft of questions received from attendees prior to the seminar. Gary couldn’t resist throwing in a few of his own, naturally! The timing was pertinent following the general election in December and with the deadline looming for the UK to leave the EU at the end of the month.
Sanjay was keen to differentiate sensational news flow from what is actually happening on the ground, and certainly his interpretations had a different look and feel to what we are ‘fed’ on a daily basis from the main media sources.
The greatest takeaways were that the global outlook is much better than was anticipated just a few months back, helped by stimulus from central banks around the world. The expectation is for equities to continue their upward trajectory, helped by proposed fiscal stimulus.
Bonds are a concern, particularly those with negative yields, and alternative assets are being sought to counter this benign environment. Whilst it is important to still hold bonds, alternative assets such as infrastructure investment are proving very attractive. This space also compliments the Sustainable investment approach embraced by Blue Sky and indeed, LGT Vestra’s Sustainable model portfolios, run by Phoebe Stone, which have proved to be a huge success.
In summary, we are in the midst of a rapidly changing world and with it comes exciting investment opportunities. Government spending on infrastructure and a commitment to Sustainability across the world, in harmony with innovation in technology and health care, means it pays to be adaptable and flexible with your investment outlook.
Captain’s Club Hotel, Christchurch: Gary Neild, Managing Director of Blue Sky Financial Planning, speaking at the seminar held by his company at the Captain’s Club Hotel.
