A brief insight into the latest market dynamics and details of any changes occurring within our model portfolios.
News
UK Inflation Drops
Official figures have shown that the UK’s inflation rate unexpectedly dropped to 2.6% in June, down from 2.9% in May.
It is the first time that there has been a fall in the rate since October 2016 and was largely down to lower petrol and diesel prices. Fuel prices fell for the fourth month in a row in June.
Economists say the fall in inflation could ease pressure on the Bank of England to raise interest rates.
US Homebuilding Data
US Homebuilding surged to a four month high in June adding to confidence in the US economy which is underpinning the rise in equities.
Market data
A broad barometer of Global stocks has been rising for the past week and a half with the dollar strengthening and there being a jump in oil prices. The rise in global stocks is partly due to the positive economic signs coming out of China which first impacted the Asian markets
Wall St. has hit new highs as tech stocks rose beyond levels seen at the height of the dot.com boom in March 2000. So far this year the sector has risen 22.8%
Gary’s market comments in conjunction with our investment partners
Artemis Global Income
During the past two months, LGT Vestra have introduced and increased their position in the Artemis Global Income Fund all across the models.
The current position of the fund is now in ‘Value cyclical’ mode with an overweight position in Europe and dependent upon strong macro data. The fund is also overweight in financials as a way of benefitting from rising bond yields, easing regulations, expected inflation rises and the move from monetary to fiscal policies.
The following new funds have been added to the 7IM multi manager fund range:
• An alternative fund from Angel Oak specialising in high quality US Mortgage Backed Securities
• A US Micro-Cap manager called THB focusing on US small and micro-cap stocks
• An Emerging Market Frontiers fund from Ashmore to complement 7IM’s existing frontiers exposure
• The Oyster European Equity Fund from Swiss based SYZ which has a mid-cap bias
The above funds were invested in, after a due diligence process by the 7IM team ensuring that the funds help diversify across investment opportunities, as well as manager style.
Sources: LGT Vestra and 7IM
