Valtrust Thought Series

While the last quarter of 2021 witnessed a new, and  subsequently raging Omicron variant, the biggest threat to the global economy was not covid, but rising inflation. The key drivers for inflation have been (1) Rising energy prices; (2) Global trade supply chain bottlenecks; and (3) Quantitive Easing (QE) alongside low and negative rates. While the last 2 years have witnessed a tremendous accelaration in adoption of technology, they have also resulted in hugely indebted...

What a volatile year this is turning out to be. Investors across the major financial asset classes: fixed income, equities and commodities have their work cut out. On the macro front, a lack of consensus on the nature of inflation i.e. transitionary or structural has participants guessing the timing of (1) pullback of quantitative easing and (2) increase in interest rates. On a micro-level supply chain disruptions which were impacting the availability of raw materials...

The second quarter has been an extraordinary quarter for global equities - fuelled by low interest rates and continued quantitative easing across the US and Europe and the world learning to live with Covid. Central banks revisited acceptable inflation numbers and signalled their comfort with a higher benchmark. Investors are now faced with the prospect of long term zero or perhaps even negative interest rates. Global economies are going through a structural change.  Starting with...