Financial markets had an awful lot to digest in May, with ongoing unease about US regional banks, interest rate hikes by the Fed, ECB and Bank of England and the drama surrounding the US debt ceiling. Yet there was also optimism among investors about the possibilities of artificial intelligence. Most equity markets responded negatively on balance. European equities fell by 3.5%1, emerging market equities by 1.9% and the UK’s FTSE 100 by as much as 5.4%. The US S&P500 noted a small gain of 0.2%, mostly driven by large tech companies. The Pacific region posted a loss of 1.9% despite a sound performance from Japan (3.6%).
Please see Kempen’s Asset Allocation Outlook for June. The highlights this month are:
There’s a saying in Dutch, Kom verder, it means many things and it’s our business philosophy. It captures the way we work with clients but also the way we steer our investee companies to deliver shareholder value through active engagement.
Capital at risk. The value of investments and the income from them can fall as well as rise, and investors may not get back the amount originally invested. Past performance provides no guarantee for the future.