News & Insights

The returns that investors can expect will depend upon reference currency with sterling investors likely to experience flat to slightly positive performance.

Better than expected economic data out of the United States combined with rising concerns over issuance on both sides of the Atlantic triggered a sharp rise in bond yields during October.

Yields on 10-year government bonds rose approximately 50bps in both the US and UK.

A sell-off in equity markets over the last few days of the month resulted in negative returns in local currency terms across most of the major indices. Growth investors will have performed slightly better than their value counterparts, but dispersion between these styles was relatively low.

The US dollar rebounded strongly, rising by more than 2% against the euro and the Swiss franc and more than 3% against sterling and the Canadian dollar. Despite the US dollar strength, gold continued to head higher, rising a further 4% to end the month at approximately USD 2,750.