For investors, the economic situation in December 2024 presented a challenging environment.
Read moreGlobal equities and fixed income markets posted positive returns in November, driven by the strong performance of US share markets following Donald Trump's decisive victory.
Read moreIn October, both stocks and bonds lost value. However, US stocks did better than international stocks and emerging market stocks.
Read moreDuring the September quarter, interest rate cuts were a hot topic as many global economies like the US, key countries in the Eurozone and New Zealand started to lower their rates.
Read moreFor the quarter ended 30 September 2024, the Mercer Overseas Shares Plus Fund returned 1.6% and the Mercer Hedged Overseas Shares Plus Fund returned 5.5%.
Read moreDuring the month, the US Federal Reserve (Fed) lowered interest rates by 0.5% due to weaker economic data, which included modest growth in non- farm jobs and a limited number of job openings.
Read moreIn August, the market became more volatile as investors dealt with concerning economic data from the US.
Read moreJuly was a significant month for markets, as the all-time highs we've seen throughout 2024 came to an end.
Read moreIn June, global equities continued to rise. This was due to strong corporate earnings and progress in controlling inflation.
Read moreMarch saw international equities extend their recent gains, with the MSCI World Index up 3.4% (in local currency) for the month, despite an increase in US inflation for the second month in a row.
Read moreIn May, strong corporate earnings and positive economic data contributed to the rise of both equities and fixed income investments.
Read moreIn April, the rally in equities came to an end. This was due to persistent inflation and a sharp slowdown in US GDP growth, which weighed heavily on market sentiment.
Read moreIn March, investors who remained optimistic were rewarded as stock markets continued to rise despite an increase in US inflation for the second consecutive month and a slowdown in consumer spending.
Read moreFebruary was a remarkable month, with strong economic data and positive earnings reports leading to the Standard and Poor’s 500 (a stock market index that tracks the performance of 500 large-cap U.S)
Read moreThe last quarter of 2023 began in a similar way to how the previous quarter ended, with some ups and downs in the stock markets.
Read moreIn 2024, the share market had a strong start, with equities (shares) continuing to rise in value. However, fixed income assets (such as bonds) struggled to keep up.
Read moreIn 2023, global stocks and bonds had a strong end to the year, with prices rising throughout the final month.
Read moreIn November, both stocks and bonds had a strong recovery after a period of uncertainty. This was mainly due to the US Federal Reserve’s decision to keep interest rates unchanged.
Read moreUS interest rates are likely to remain higher for a longer period owing to stronger than predicted US GDP and employment growth.
Read moreDespite a great start in July, both equities and bonds ended the September quarter (Q3) on a low note, supporting the latter month’s reputation for delivering seasonally weaker returns.
Read moreAn investor labelled “September Effect” was possibly a cause for the negative share market performance during the month, as stock returns fell back further and bond yields rose once again.
Read moreAs we’ve seen in the past, when China experiences economic turmoil, the rest of the world is likely to feel its effects.
Read moreWith the often discussed ‘soft-landing’ scenario becoming more of a possibility, investors may have found themselves in an unlikely bull market.
Read moreIn June, global share markets showed strength with returns largely driven by players in ‘big tech’ alongside consumer discretionary, industrials and the materials sector.
Read more2023 started positively as capital markets experienced their strongest January gains in recent years. The ‘risk-on’ sentiment resumed as inflation continued to moderate in developed regions
Read moreGlobal share markets experienced a negative performance this month as investor sentiment was dampened by concerns over US debt ceiling negotiations.
Read moreDespite concerns about a possible recession, investor sentiment remained largely positive in April. Investors were initially spooked as minutes from the US Federal Reserve’s (‘Fed’) March meeting.
Read moreGlobal share markets were positive despite the turmoil that engulfed the banking industry.
Read moreInvestor skepticism over intentions to fight inflation, led to a month of mostly declines in global share markets.
Read moreAfter negative returns in August and September across most asset classes.
Read moreGlobal share markets started the New Year with a bang, showcasing a strong rally off the back of a weak December.
Read moreDecember saw global share markets retreat from advances made in November, continuing their recent ‘see-sawing’ pattern. Fears of a recession and earnings risks remained.
Read moreGlobal share markets continued to deliver positive returns in November, which was a result of better than expected Consumer Price Index (‘CPI’) readings in the US.
Read moreOctober was a positive month for investors, as we saw share markets recovering.
Read moreGlobal share markets continued their decline in September, with the S&P 500 index suffering its worst one-day sell-off since June 2020.
Read moreAfter a rebound in July, which continued into early August, global share markets saw a broad-based sell-off following US Federal Reserve (‘Fed’) Chair Jerome Powell’s remarks at the Jackson Hole.
Read moreGlobal share markets experienced a significant rebound in July, after the June lows.
Read moreGlobal share markets suffered another negative month as a slight rebound experienced at the end of May faded.
Read moreGlobal share markets experienced another difficult month, as markets continued to digest a fast changing economic environment. With weaker than expected global activity in April.
Read moreGlobal equity markets had their most difficult month since March 2020 as the confluence of global central banks tightening monetary policy.
Read moreWe saw ‘lift-off’ in March as the Federal Reserve (the Fed) raised the federal funds rate (the target rate that banks pay to borrow from each other on an overnight basis)
“There is no purgatory for war criminals - they go straight to hell”, Ukraine’s UN Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya said to his Russian counterpart at a United Nations Security Council meeting.
Read moreLooking across 2021 and the past decade, a number of observations can be made from the Periodic Table.
The top ten holdings in the ANZ International Share Fund are:
The start of 2022 was a volatile month for equities. Inflation remained at multi decade highs as a competitive labour market and soaring oil prices sustained pressures.
Read moreFinancial markets finished the year and the month of December on a strong note despite being disrupted by COVID-19.
Financial markets ended the month of November on tumultuous footing as rising hospitalizations in Europe due to the Coronavirus alongside the new Omicron variant of the Coronavirus spurred.
Read moreGlobal equity markets rebounded in October after last month’s rout. Inflation, monetary policy tightening and supply chain woes continued to weigh on economic activity.
Read moreSeptember proved to be a difficult month for Global Equity markets as a slowing global economy, worsening supply chain and the potential Evergrande bankruptcy in China dented investor sentiment.
Read moreIn August, the global reopening continued, with a number of countries further lifting pandemic restrictions. This is despite the Delta variant continuing to spread and daily cases picking up across
Read moreThe global economic recovery remained strong in July as the Coronavirus vaccination roll-out continued. This was somewhat tempered by the spread of the Delta variant of the virus.
Read moreGlobal Equities finished the month in positive territory after what was one of the strongest starts to the year since the Dot Com bubble in 2000.
Read moreGlobal share markets remained strong through March, with the global vaccine rollout giving investors confidence about the year ahead.
Read moreGlobal equities continued their upward trajectory in May as many developed economies continued to reopen, leveraging off surprisingly efficient vaccine rollouts.
Read moreAfter a positive March, global share markets continued to perform strongly in April with all major markets (with the exception of Japan) showing positive returns.
Read moreEvery month between July and May, the trustee determines a monthly earning rate for each investment option.
Read moreGlobal equities remained strong through March with the global vaccine rollout giving investors confidence in the year ahead, with the MSCI World Index returning 7.3% in unhedged NZD
Read moreGlobal share markets finished the last calendar month of 2020 on a positive note! Despite political tension in the US and a new, highly contagious variant of COVID-19 spreading throughout the UK.
Read moreGlobal share markets finished the last calendar month of 2020 on a positive note! Despite political tension in the US and a new,
Global equities saw strong returns across the board in November as the outlook for a successful Covid-19 vaccine boosted expectations that the worst of the pandemic,
Read moreInterest rates in New Zealand and around the world are exceptionally low, and have just recently gone lower.
Equity markets failed to find their footing following the turbulence of September, with most major indices experiencing outflows throughout October.
Equity markets lost ground in September, bucking their widespread positive trajectory off their pandemic-induced lows.
Equity markets pushed higher in August, supported by continued improvements in global manufacturing data and an indication of persistently dovish central bank policies.
Read moreGlobal equity markets continued their strong performance in July, with a better-than-expected earnings season in the US and continued fiscal support for households and businesses.
Read moreGlobal equity markets extended their remarkable quarterly gains throughout June, with the NASDAQ touching record highs as FAANG
Global equities climbed and government bond yields rose as the recovery in investment markets continued throughout May.
Despite the ongoing global pandemic, markets delivered sharply positive returns in April. US equity markets had their best performance since 1987.
March proved to be one of the worst months for asset prices in modern history. Escalation of a widespread sell-off that began in February spilled over into a sharp liquidity squeeze,
Read moreThe NZAS Retirement Fund uses a wide array of fund managers, and more detail will be available in due course as to specifically how portfolios have been performing recently.
Read moreThis video will give you a basic understanding of how share market cycles work, the types of asset classes there are and how they are affected by market fluctuations,
What asset class do you think delivered the highest return for the 2019 calendar year? Was it global shares?
After touching new highs earlier in the year, global equities and other risk assets sold off sharply in February over concerns about the spread of coronavirus
Read moreJanuary proved to be an eventful month; after a strong start, culminating in the signing of the phase one deal between the US and China
Read more2019 was a bumper year for equity markets and December was no exception.
November was another positive month for developed equity markets, encouraged by reported progress on trade negotiations between the US and China.
Read moreOctober delivered another positive month for global markets, with global equities rising and bond yields inching higher.
Global markets were once again able to slip into a “goldilocks” phase of accommodative monetary policy and easing trade conflict over September,
Read moreAugust was a month marked by volatility, with equity markets struggling as investor risk appetite retreated amid fears of a global recession.
July served up more positive returns for investors despite signs of increasing market strain and a weakening global economic outlook.
June was a good one for investors with all major asset classes delivering positive returns and equities recovering from the falls suffered in May.
Read moreMay dished up a rocky month for investors, reminiscent of the equity correction seen in December last year.
April continued the positive start to 2019 for investors, with equity markets maintaining their positive momentum.
Read moreMarch brought more good news for investors, with most asset classes again posting positive returns.
February delivered more good news to investors with most asset classes posting positive returns for the second consecutive month.
Read moreGlobal markets rebounded in January with all developed markets posting positive returns.
The second quarter ended with a rocky ride for global share markets. Find out in this video what was behind some of this volatility.
Read moreGlobal markets fell sharply in December with most developed markets posting large negative returns.
Despite persistent volatility throughout the month, the majority of equity markets across North America and the Pacific clawed backed some of their October losses in November,
Read moreOctober 2018 is being called “the worst month in ten years” after many major global share markets had much of their year to date gains annihilated by another large bout of volatility.
Read moreGlobal equity investors struggled with the uncertainty of ever more ubiquitous trade tensions over the month, although markets still delivered a small positive return in aggregate.
Read moreGlobal markets posted positive returns in aggregate during August.
Positive returns in the US and Australia and falls in Europe, Japan and Emerging Markets over the month, resulted in a relatively flat aggregate return from global share markets in June.
Read moreGlobal equities, in aggregate, rose over May, but it wasn’t all good news.
April saw equity markets bounce back from their recent decline, delivering positive returns across all developed economies.
Read moreMarch started on a positive note, bouncing back from losses in February.
Early in February the announcement that the US budget deficit would reach close to US$1 trillion in 2018 aroused fears of inflation and higher interest rates,
Read moreThe first month of 2018 picked up where 2017 left off, with most global equity markets (Australia and the UK aside) delivering positive returns.
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