Category Archives: News

Introduction……. The third quarter was a much more volatile quarter as we had expected in our half-year forecast. Over the course of Q3 we saw risk assets initially move higher, with many equity indices trading through their all-time highs in mid-summer. This was then followed by a period of choppy trade and elevated volatility during […]

Introduction……….. Since we released our Half-Year Investment Review & Outlook back in July, we have seen most of the main global equity indices continue to grind higher, with some relatively small bouts of volatility along the way while keeping the general trend of the last 18 months well intact. With the main indices either side […]

Introduction……….. Since the release of our 2021 Investment Outlook in January as we expected, we have seen vaccination roll-outs accelerating and lockdown measures gradually easing. As western countries have fully vaccinated the vulnerable within their populations and are now providing vaccines for adults of all ages, we are really starting to see some light at […]

Households have spent the last year saving more and paying down debt. HOUSEHOLDS where people have been able to work from home are saving so much that a new record has been reached for funds in banks and credit unions. Households in this country saved an additional €15bn in the year to April in response […]

Introduction……… Markets in general have been relatively subdued over the past month, with the main equity indices either side of the Atlantic grinding slowly higher, as the VIX (S&P 500 volatility) index recently saw 15-month lows at an intra-day print last week of $15.15. This gentle trade higher for risk assets comes after the temporary […]

June 2021. Seaspray Private is recruiting a Pensions, Protection & Investment Administrator for its Cork City office. This exciting opportunity for an ambitious financial adviser is currently taking applications. Please click here for full details or view the job spec below: Please forward your CV in the strictest confidence to info@seasprayprivate.ie Seaspray Financial Services Ltd […]

The last month has been relatively quiet for financial markets, as volatility rests near 15-month lows, as the western world prepares for the highly anticipated re-openings this summer. The United States, who are still averaging about 2 million inoculations per day, have over the past week surpassed 45% of their population in terms of first […]

Risk assets have seen a broadly positive start to 2021, and while we acknowledge that it has not been a simple and straight forward ride higher for markets, we do note that the S&P500’s ‘VIX volatility index’ at the beginning of April has traded through its lowest price since before the initial pandemic-led equity sell-off. […]

Since our 2021 investment outlook in January, equity markets, depending on the region, have traded flat to slightly higher. While this was not a completely smooth journey for risk assets, when we take a look back at the last couple of months we are reminded that opportunities are constantly presenting themselves within markets if we […]

Let us begin our annual investment outlook with a bold statement: 2021 will be the year when the Covid-19 crisis ends. More precisely, despite new variants and mutations of the virus, there is optimism globally that there will be a successful global rollout of safe and effective vaccines by the second quarter of this year […]