INSIGHT

Deciphering what is happening on the ground in Ukraine, or Russia for that matter, is difficult. Not just because the veracity of the reports or news has to be examined (on every side), but because the narrative attached to it differs depending on the perspective.

Our founding partner, Max Thowless-Reeves recently had the privilege of being featured in a Spear’s magazine article focussed on a new generation of boutique wealth managers.

We last spoke about Bitcoin in 2013: “We would classify them as an interesting fad, Bitcoins are structurally flawed but an alternative online non-governmental currency may well endure”.

Perhaps it is fitting that the US election limps rather than sprints towards a resolution. When half of the population no longer trusts the media (not unreasonably), separating truth from fiction is a more arduous task than it used to be.

$2,000 a share was an important milestone for Tesla, at that price it was valued at $372bn. This seems like a big number and we are reminded of Senator Dirksen’s famous quote “A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking real money.“

The (relative) calm of markets in the week before Easter allowed us to discuss our analysis of the longer term ramifications of the virus, of governments responses and finally to what the economy will look like when it emerges from lock-down.

Our previous note relating to the corona virus discussed the short term impact of the frenetic global response to the pandemic, and the optimal strategy for investors in conditions of high uncertainty and fast moving markets.

Investment Managers Richard Farmiloe and Max Thowless-Reeves discuss the latest bear market, its causes beyond coronavirus, and what investors might expect.

Markets have clearly been highly volatile. It has been a long time since the circuit breakers (which halt trading when prices have fallen by a certain %) were used. Equity markets fell sharply yesterday and corporate debt markets were practically untradeable at any volume.

Markets have fallen sharply over the last few days, ostensibly because of worsening reports over the spread of coronavirus, and we wanted to communicate our thoughts on the matter.

SORBUS VECTOR has been awarded a full five crown rating by FE Trustnet, recognising the outstanding performance of the fund over the last three years.