Finance - Page 3

4 March 2025

A Rollercoaster Start to the Year -
2025 has begun with the market’s focus flipping between different topics at a lightning pace. Firstly, government bond yields spiked higher and created alarm about budget deficits. However, lower inflation data made those fears subside and led to a strong rally...

We are at a point in time where US stocks are dominating all others, in terms of both their outright size and the strength of their returns. In 2024, the MSCI USA index gained 24.6%, almost double the 12.4% return achieved by the rest of the world (MSCI World ex-USA). However, 2025 does bring a mixed outlook for unemployment and inflation, in the US and elsewhere, therefore it will be interesting to see if investment returns can remain so strong in the coming year.

Greaves West & Ayre recently held two successful and well-attended Port Budget Rural Seminars.

Wednesday 5 April 2025 sees the end of the current Tax Year. Following the new Chancellor's plans to continue to freeze
and in some cases reduce tax-free allowances; it is more important than ever to make the most of some timely tax planning.

Shona Robison delivered her second Scottish Budget as Finance Secretary yesterday, 4 December 2024. We round up some of the highlights in our Scottish Budget review.

The re-election of Donald Trump to the US Presidency has caused another large rise in US stocks, which were already doing very well. Indeed, his “America first” ideology is reflected in the way US stocks have outperformed others recently.

The cost of borrowing has risen sharply in the past few weeks for the UK and US governments. This has caused stock markets to pause for breath after making strong gains.

Yesterday, Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered her Autumn Statement. We have sifted through the details and hope the following review, which we feel will be the most significant to our clients, will be helpful.

Asia remains the centre of attention on the back of a major Chinese stimulus program which has triggered a sharp rally in its stocks. This comes after two months where Japan experienced significant currency volatility and a “flash crash” in its stocks.

August began with a “flash crash” in Japanese stocks which declined 20% in the course of three trading days, following sharp movements in foreign exchange rates.

It is now more than 12 months since the launch of the MGTS Qualis Funds and in terms of both performance and asset growth, they have been a success.