US stocks suffered their worst first half of the year since 1970 as investor sentiment was shaken by concerns that remedies to cure runaway inflation will push economies into recession. The blue-chip S&P 500 and technology focussed Nasdaq indices moved into bear market territory, falling 21% and 30% respectively.
It was a similar picture globally and European stocks also suffered heavy declines. However, the UK’s FTSE 100 was the best performing major global index and fell just 3% in price terms, boosted by its higher exposure to energy, basic materials and consumer staples stocks.
The sharp depreciation of the pound, including a 10% fall versus the US Dollar, also provided a strong tailwind to FTSE 100 companies which in aggregate generate around 70% of their revenues overseas.
TEAM plc (LON:TEAM) is building a new wealth, asset management and complementary financial services group. With a focus on the UK, Crown Dependencies and International Finance Centres, the strategy is to build local businesses of scale around TEAM’s core skill of providing investment management services.