David Hood

Generally, 2024 was a good year for investors and overweight positions to US equities and gold were positive in a year when they were the star performers, each rising over 25%. Coming into 2025 we remain positive on both. Gold can be helpful in the portfolio mix to counterbalance rising inflation or geopolitical risk. US equities have their own unique mix of dominant tech companies but also an abundance of firms where valuations are less stretched. Whilst neutral on bonds overall, we are overweight government bonds where yields are more generous than they have been in decades and there is the potential for price appreciation in the event of economic weakness. In contrast, we are underweight corporate bonds where credit spreads seem too miserly for investors to get excited about. Whilst there will be plenty of change over 2025 we are positive on the prospects for markets given the ongoing strength in the US economy.