Politics versus profits | Investment Update, March 2025

After a good start to the year, an onslaught of policy announcements from the #WhiteHouse has since sent #US #equities into retreat. But falls of this magnitude are a normal part of investing, and the importance of politicians shouldn’t be overrated.

In his latest video, Co-Chief Investment Officer Ed Smith gives some context to the recent 10% peak-to-trough fall in #US equities. Here are five key points on what it means for #investors:

We’re biased toward thinking the past was a less uncertain place – it wasn’t; you can’t predict the future, but you can prepare for it

Short-sharp falls like the one #US #equities suffered in March are not uncommon, and usually are followed by recovery and positive returns over the full calendar year

We aren’t seeing any signs of financial stress, and should therefore stay invested - over the long run, #equities have nearly always beaten sitting in cash

It’s easy to overestimate the influence of politicians on long-term #stockmarket performance; broader #economic and market drivers matter far more

The #US #market continues to have a high proportion of companies that score highly on measures of quality, and tend to outperform their peers during periods of uncertainty.

https://www.rathbones.com/insight/inv...

The value of your investments and the income from them may go down as well as up, and you could get back less than you invested.

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