Major pension changes introduced by Spring Budget 2023
The 2023 Spring Budget produced some of the biggest, most wide-ranging changes to pensions legislation since the “Pension Freedom” reforms of 2014. The statement was a surprise to say the least.
Inflation Linked Bonds: Performance and outlook
In times of high inflation, one might expect index-linked bonds (ILBs) to provide the insurance their name implies and protect returns. Instead, in 2022 ILBs were one of the worst performing asset classes, leaving many confused about their performance. As measured by the FTSE UK Actuaries series, an investment in an All Stocks inflation linked bond tracker at the start of 2022 will have dropped in value by 33.60% at the end of the year. Even worse, an investment in an Over 25 years maturity tracker would have lost over half of its value!
So why did ILBs perform so badly, and where are they headed from here?
Investment Outlook 2022
Although the pandemic is far from over, with cases in some areas rising to the highest levels seen since the beginning of the pandemic and the threat of a new variant always around the corner, the volatility from the pandemic seen in markets is decreasing, as investors become more accustomed to the ebbs and flows of an endemic virus.