News & Insight

Market Commentary

In their latest meeting on 6 February, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted by a 7 to 2 majority to cut Bank Rate by 0.25 percentage points to 4.5%, in a widely expected move. The two dissenting voices wished to reduce Bank Rate by 0.5 percentage points to 4.25%. For the seven members favouring the […]

Market Commentary

Chancellor Rachel Reeves made a series of major announcements in a highly anticipated speech last Wednesday at Siemens Healthineers in Oxfordshire. Setting out more plans to boost growth, Ms Reeves unveiled fresh promises for infrastructure and redevelopment projects. “We can do so much better,” Ms Reeves remarked. “Low growth is not our destiny… but growth […]

Market Commentary

The World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos wrapped up on Friday after an eventful week. Coinciding with the inauguration of Donald Trump, the talking shop for world leaders and business bosses featured prominent discussion around trade, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and climate action. Trade was, unsurprisingly, a hot topic, against the backdrop of new […]

Market Commentary

The global economy is projected to expand by just 2.7% in 2025 and 2026, according to a report released last week by the World Bank, with developing countries set to bear the brunt of geopolitical and economic headwinds. By growing at the same pace as in 2024, the world economy would flatline at its joint […]

Market Commentary

UK consumer card spending was flat in December 2024, according to a report released last week by Barclays Bank. With year-on-year growth at 0.0%, consumer card spending lags significantly behind the latest inflation figure of 2.6%. The report, which combines millions of customer transactions with consumer research, found that essential spending was the main category […]

Market Commentary

House prices increased by 4.7% over the year to December 2024, to finish only slightly below an all-time high, according to new data released last week by Nationwide Building Society. Having accelerated by 0.7% month-on-month, the average house price finished the year at £269,426. Commenting on the release, Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s Chief Economist, said, “UK […]

Market Commentary

The UK economy contracted again in October, according to official figures released on Friday by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The unexpected fall of 0.1% marked two consecutive months of negative growth for the first time since the onset of the pandemic in March and April 2020. Analysts pointed to the effects of the […]

Market Commentary

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer delivered a speech last Thursday at Pinewood Studios on the government’s ‘Plan for Change.’ In it, he set out “six milestones” to be completed before the next general election, with new targets on housebuilding, NHS waiting lists, policing and clean power. “Today, we publish new milestones, measurable milestones that will […]

Market Commentary

Buying a home is becoming more affordable relative to income, according to the latest Halifax Affordability Review released last Thursday, as the house price to income ratio continues to fall. Strong wage growth combined with lower house price inflation has made housing more affordable than a year ago, the research revealed. Since 2023, house prices […]

Market Commentary

UK inflation was 2.3% in October, according to figures released last week by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the first rise in the UK’s consumer prices index (CPI) for three months. As well as faring worse than economists had expected, the figure was a significant increase on the 1.7% recorded a month earlier. It […]

Market Commentary

Last Thursday, Chancellor Rachel Reeves used her first Mansion House speech to outline her new plan for pension funds, intended to shake up UK pension saving and unlock £80bn of investment. Ahead of the speech, the Chancellor revealed that the government is backing a ‘megafund’ model to revolutionise UK pension saving. Based partly on similar […]

Market Commentary

Some of the topics covered in this edition are: Avoiding the unretirement ‘tax trap’ – Many over-55s are considering unretirement but are not aware of the tax implications, which could increase their tax liability. Navigating a multi-retirement reality – The retirement landscape is evolving, with more multi-retirement households and age gap relationships adding complexity to […]