Market Commentary
Sometimes markets are referred to as being either ‘risk on’ or ‘risk off’. What these jargon terms are referring to is whether investor behaviour is generally favouring riskier investments (risk on) and therefore buying such assets and pushing their prices higher, or fearful of losses and therefore investing in lower risk or safer assets (risk off). These sentiment swings are powerful forces and have an enormous effect on how securities are priced. The latter part of 2018 was characterised by a strong ‘risk off’ environment resulting in large outflows from riskier assets (such as equities), and consequent falls in price …