2022 was a difficult year for financial markets, with a variety of factors causing uncertainty, and you may find that this has affected your pension fund.
What has happened?
The causes of the difficult financial situation include high global inflation (rising energy prices is a big factor), global supply chain issues (particularly in the UK due to added trade barriers with the EU) and the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
All this reduced confidence in financial markets caused the value of stocks and shares (often referred to as Equity investments) to fall. Central banks around the world raised interest rates to try and bring down inflation, and this resulted in corporate and government bonds (called “Gilts” in the UK) falling significantly in value. This meant that Gilts (which are generally considered to be one of the least risky investments) were one of the types of investment affected most badly by the financial difficulties.
STM Group plc (LON:STM) is a multi-jurisdictional financial services group listed on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange. The Group was formed as a strategic investment company specifically to build a leading financial services group originally operating in the international corporate and trustee service provider (CTSPs) sector.
