Welcome to the December issue of our newsletter. In this issue we review the year that was 2015 and provide an outlook for 2016.
2015 has seen another long worry list for investors. Some of these – such as terrorist attacks in Paris, the escalating war in Syria, refugee problems in Europe, Greece’s latest tantrum and tensions in the South China Sea – have not had a lasting impact on investment markets. However, worries about deflation, falling commodity prices, fear of an emerging market (EM) crisis led by China and uncertainty around the Fed’s first interest rate hike have had a more lasting impact.
In Australia the focus remained on the rebalancing of the economy after the mining boom as well as property bubbles. While it has not been a bad year for investors, overall returns have been constrained.