What could Trump's trade tariffs mean for your investments?

Since his inauguration, US President Donald Trump has dominated global news headlines, and this past week was no different. During the weekend, Trump took the decision to withdraw US military support from Ukraine and followed this up by imposing tariffs on some of America’s largest trade partners, China, Canada & Mexico.

We understand all this noise around uncertainty and trade tensions can be alarming, the one thing we knew to expect since Donald Trump became president was uncertainty and we expect this to continue for the foreseeable future.

Global stock markets haven’t taken to the recent news very well, particularly in the US where we have seen the post-election gains on the US stock market, the S&P 500, lost. The long-term impact this will have on portfolios currently remains unclear and we continue to keep a close eye on developments and ensure our investment strategies remain in a well-managed, robust solution. Knee jerk reaction changes to a portfolio based off short term news, is not advisable. Instead, a long term view is important to weather short term volatility.

Since Trump took office, our investment management partners made some changes in our core portfolios with the upcoming volatility in mind. We saw a reduction in US technology focused growth stocks, and an increase towards high quality and low volatility focused investments. This preparation added a little extra protection to the portfolios in the event of market volatility, which we are seeing the benefit of after watching the past couple weeks unfold!

So what’s next? We see more uncertainty on the horizon, and our position remains the same; that having a well-managed, globally diversified portfolio is the key to managing difficult times. Our investment management partners continue to keep a close eye on macroeconomic developments to ensure our clients’ portfolios remain robust during these uncertain times. Our Investment Management Committee meet regularly with our investment partners to oversee this.

Mashud Rahman

Head of investments

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