INVESTOR HUB

Global equity markets delivered solid gains over April, as data signalled that economic growth continues to remain resilient, despite the headwinds of sharply rising interest rates and tightening financial conditions.

It was a turbulent and volatile month for global equity markets, driven by the unforeseen tumult in the banking sector which raised fears over the resilience and stability of the global financial system.

While headline returns for February across most major country-based indices were in negative territory, unhedged kiwi investors were still able to see positive returns due to the kiwi dollar weakness.

A solid start to the year saw the S&P/NZX 50 Index return 4.3% in January, trailing slightly behind most developed market peers.

There was no reprieve for investors in the final month of what has been a challenging year. Global equities fell sharply, wiping out most of the gains made since October.

Over the month global equities continued to advance from the October lows, with emerging market equities outperforming developed markets by a sizeable margin.

NZX Limited’s wholly owned subsidiary, Smartshares Limited, is acquiring the QuayStreet business. The acquisition includes all ten of QuayStreet’s managed funds and QuayStreet KiwiSaver.

After a torrid year, much of it caused by central banks rapidly raising rates to contain inflation, a glimmer of hope began to emerge that the current global tightening cycle may soon be coming to an end. Despite inflation remaining at elevated levels across many parts of the world, there were a number of surprising dovish policy announcements by major central banks over the month.

In September, there were few winners with only nine companies in the S&P/NZX50 Index managing to make positive returns in a month where the Index returned -4.6%.

In August, global equities started the month off on a strong note, continuing to make gains on increasing optimism that inflation may have finally peaked.

Since the start of the year, investors have been beset by a perfect storm of slowing global economic activity, rampant inflation, and central banks increasingly becoming more hawkish in order to contain it.

Global equities were sold off in a volatile frenzy as investors contended with tighter monetary policy settings in response to high inflation plus mounting recessionary fears due to deteriorating economic indicators.

There were few places to hide during the latest reporting season, as most company results were again overshadowed by overall market movements which saw 41 out of the top 50 companies end with negative returns.

An introductory video guide to Socially Responsible Investing, what it is and what it means to invest in socially responsible investments.

Learn about QuayStreet's approach to socially responsible investing and the screening process for SRI investments.