Prices and Markets

According to the International Energy Agency’s renewables 2017 report, three countries are going to account for two-thirds of global renewable energy expansion by 2022. Those countries are China, India, and the United States. While credit must be given to the former two for a boom in solar-panel deployments over the past year, the US can also take a bow for not only sharpened cost reductions, but also improving policies that support the use of renewable energy. The result of these...

One of the promises made by Donald Trump during the 2016 elections was to "balance" the trade deficit between the United States and China. It now appears as if these threats have become a hard reality. The US recently imposed several tariffs on China. As a result, this massive powerhouse has responded in kind. All this has investors across the world very worried. The effects of such a trade war will have ramifications that reach far beyond these two nations....

In the light of recent tensions, and the re-election of Russian President Vladimir Putin last night, Alexandre Garese, The French investor, assesses the prospects for doing business in Russia Assessing the current relations between Moscow and Paris, French investor Alexandre Garese told journalists that, despite the external political pressure and multiple sanctions, more convenient conditions for doing business have taken shape in Russia. Whilst the current political landscape sensitive, he believes a deeper warming between the countries can be seen...

Ecofin Global Utilities and Infrastructure - On the contrary …. - Ecofin Global Utilities and Infrastructure (EGL) had a strong 2017, beating the MSCI World Utilities Index by a significant margin. Utilities and infrastructure have got off to a difficult start in 2018 however, suffering from negative sentiment as markets have focused on the heightened prospect of interest rate rises as well as a couple of other high-profile difficulties within the sector. EGL’s manager, Jean-Hugues de Lamaze, says that, while...

CQS New City High Yield - “Conservative and boring” - In the words of its manager, Ian Francis, CQS New City High Yield Fund (NCYF) is “really conservative and boring”! However, NCYF offers a high yield and has beaten the consumer price index, Libor and the MSCI UK Index by significant margins over the last 10 years; all while providing low volatility returns. Furthermore, its premium rating (an average of 5.5% during the last year) and its ongoing share issuance (5.3% during...

QuotedData has released the 2018 edition of its highly-regarded Investment Companies Guide.  Building on the success of last year's publication and updated to reflect developments within the sector, the Guide harnesses QuotedData's wide-ranging distribution capabilities to reach over 100,000 self-directed investors and their advisers. 2018 Investment Companies Guide Final Version Partnership approach The guide has been supported by sponsors including Aberdeen Standard Investments, Fidelity International, Jupiter Asset Management and Polar Capital and will be hosted by Alliance Trust Savings, Zurich, Transact...

Environmental groups are upping the pressure on Whitehall to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles (EVs), with the Green Alliance urging the government last week to ban petrol and diesel cars by 2030. That highly ambitious timeframe for phasing out combustion engines would do wonders for reducing air pollution. Unfortunately, it also assumes everything is rosy on the supply side. As the ongoing saga surrounding Russia’s Nornickel (formerly known as Norilsk Nickel) should make clear, adequate supplies of the metals...

Aberdeen Frontier Markets - No closet-tracker - In a major shift in how its structured, Aberdeen Frontier Markets (AFMC) last year moved from investing indirectly via funds to investing directly into shares of listed companies. This was mostly completed by the end of June 2017. AFMC has under performed the MSCI Frontier Markets Index by some margin and this, in turn, has led to a widening discount. However, AFMC is not and does not want to be seen as a closet index-tracker....

QuotedData’s economic round up – March 2018 is a collation of recent insights on markets and economies taken from the comments made by chairmen and investment managers of investment companies – have a read and make your own minds up. Please remember that nothing in this note is designed to encourage you to buy or sell any of the companies mentioned. Kindly sponsored by Polar Capital March - Economic and Political Roundup Roundup In mid-February, stock markets fell on concerns that strong...