History teaches us that financial assets and markets can survive and indeed thrive under different political systems (see China and Thailand for example), but social unrest and instability are their common and universal kryptonite.

The third quarter of 2020 saw equity markets post strong gains, capping the best two-quarter performance since 2009. Despite a spike in coronavirus cases in June and July, there has been a slow but steady recovery in economic activity.

The bellwether index for U.S. equity markets, the S&P 500, has seen a steady increase in stock and sector concentrations since 2017. This has created implications regarding the drivers of market performance …

As we move into the second half of 2020, we can only look back on the first half in amazement. In fact, 1H20 was a tale of two halves, for markets generally and the fixed income markets specifically. As we noted in our commentary for 1Q20 March was one of the worst months for…

When this year began, no one could have predicted the path we would travel in just six short months. While the first quarter of 2020 was one of the worst on record, the second quarter was one of the best. Equity markets have experienced wild swings…

Having troughed in May, high frequency economic data snapped back sharply in June, albeit not to pre-virus levels. One such indicator – the Global purchasing managers’ index (PMI) markedly improved in June from 42.4 to 47.8; but remains in contractionary territory…