Acumen Portfolio Performance YTD 2022

Commentary on Portfolio Performance – May 2022

Volatility was persistently high in May. The euro strengthened 1.5% in the month against the dollar to $1.07 and hurting investors from the Euro area. In addition to it being a tough month for equities, bond markets also had a negative month, but after prolonged falls, they are showing signs of levelling off for the first time in 3 months and the last full week also saw a recovery in global equities. There has been precious few places to avoid the sharp falls this year and those portfolios with a higher exposure to alternatives such as infrastructure, renewables and hedge funds fared better.  Global equities have fallen back to their 20-year average taking the traditional price/earnings measure and are looking more attractive than they have in two years. In the US retailers are starting to see a build-up in unsold stock, new mortgage applications have fallen sharply and house sales have fallen back. These may herald an easing of inflation increases and put a ceiling on further rate increases after the end of this year which would potentially be good news for investors.