Q2 2024 was another good quarter for equity markets. AI as a theme continued to perform strongly, with Nvidia adding roughly £800bn to its market value across the period, cementing it within the top 3 most valuable public companies globally. This ongoing enthusiasm pushed up the valuations of associated companies and industries, with Taiwan benefiting from double digit returns as investor interest in AI chips continued to grow.
Emerging markets as a whole outperformed developed markets over the quarter. Both the US and the UK also saw gains, with the FTSE 100 hitting record highs. However, there were losses in the Eurozone amongst diminishing expectations for further interest rate cuts by the European Central Bank and continued political uncertainty, in particular the shock announcement of parliamentary elections in France.
Bond markets also performed positively over the quarter. Looking under the bonnet a little, high yield bonds performed best, followed by investment grade bonds, and then government bonds.
All ready-made solutions delivered positive returns over the quarter, with low risk solutions spanning from 0% – 1%, medium risk portfolios 0.6% - 2.3%, and high risk options 1.2% - 3.2%.
