Now that the year has just ended, we can say that expectations for 2018 were too high. Yet at the start of the year key leading economic indicators were actually pointing to strong growth in 2018. In the US, President’s Trump’s tax reforms were the likely cause of the euphoria. But purchasing managers’ indices were showing survey readings at record highs in Europe as well, where there were no tax giveaways on offer. While these data points were largely trending well above their average levels, they gradually lost ground as the year went on. In Europe in particular, expectations were ratcheted down sharply. Fears over a global economic slowdown, political uncertainty in the UK and France and the ongoing budget dispute between Italy and the EU dragged equities as well as other asset classes down sharply.
Few investors will have achieved positive returns in this challenging environment.
How did your portfolio fare? Were you invested relatively broadly and adversely affected by the market turmoil as a result? Or were you successful because you opted for just a small selection of securities? What impact did management and product costs have on your portfolio?
This is a good time to evaluate your portfolio and get the information you need to make decisions on possible changes.
We at swisspartners will be glad to offer you a free portfolio check-up focusing on the following areas:
Send us your portfolio statement by email or by mail (swisspartner AG, Am Schanzengraben 23, 8022 Zurich). We will then draw up and send you a personal portfolio analysis in line with the criteria set out above.
Written by:
Konstantin Wyser | Partner
Your Wealth at a Glance.