Following the UK referendum, European insurance stocks have fallen indiscriminately – with little differentiation around asset gearing, beta, business models, earnings trajectory, solvency levels, capital structures, currency exposures, and idiosyncratic risks. The first-half results may be the time the companies can actually differentiate themselves with the winners and losers appearing.… Read More »
Turkey witnessed a totally unexpected coup d’état attempt on 15 July 2016. Istanbul Ataturk Airport and the two bridges over the Bosphorus were taken over and blocked by a group of soldiers. Tanks, F16 jets and helicopters were all over the place in a matter of a few hours. State… Read More »
You know you’ve arrived as an industry, an issue or a political candidate when you find yourself subject to the satirical potshots of the likes of expat talk show hosts (John Oliver), Twitter battles that pit the new Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Harry Potter’s creator (J.K. Rowling) against a… Read More »
Brexit introduces fresh headwinds to growth – headwinds that are reinforced by rising political risks in key EU countries. While inflation should start to rise soon, we still expect additional ECB action and see prospects for some fiscal easing. Materially lowering our European GDP growth forecasts: In the wake of… Read More »
In light of today’s interest rate decision from the Bank of England Michael Metcalfe, head of Global Macro Strategy, State Street Global Markets and Bill Street, head of Investments EMEA, State Street Global Advisors offer the following views. Michael Metcalfe: “There are two surprises here. The first is that interest… Read More »
If the markets had not ended with a rally the day before the vote, people would most likely have been better prepared. However, last Thursday (23 June), while equities were up 2%, the outcome seemed certain, hedge fund managers were no doubt well-informed, Bremain would certainly prevail. But for those… Read More »
Italian banks face increasing market turbulence amid investors’ concerns about their creditworthiness. S&P Global Ratings does not expect recent events to affect its ratings on Italian banks Following a rocky start to the year, Italian banks are facing increasing market turbulence amid investors’ concerns about their creditworthiness. Bad loans in… Read More »
UK has voted to leave the European Union (EU). Following the result and the ensuing uncertainty, we can expect heightened volatility in the markets. British voters, particularly in the Midlands and North of England, have shown their anger regarding the effects of globalisation, austerity and an increasingly London-centric country. The… Read More »
Political fragmentation is testing Europe. The protest parties are galvanised by Brexit and demanding a similar vote elsewhere. While they poll strongly, whether they have enough support remains to be seen. Politics introduces a downside skew to growth. Is it a replay of the 2008-09 or 2011-12 crises? Neither, we… Read More »
State Street Global Exchange today released the results of the State Street Investor Confidence Index® (ICI) for June 2016. The cut off to calculate this month’s ICI reading was June 22 and did not account for the June 24 Brexit decision The Global ICI declined marginally to 105.9, down 0.1… Read More »