According to estimates issued in August by the UK’s Office for National Statistics, the inflation rate in the UK in July 2023 was 6.8%. This constituted a significant decrease against 7.9% in the month before.
In the period from January to October 2022, it jumped to a 41-year peak of 11.1%. It has since declined, beginning at 10.7% during November, subsequently to 10.5% in December, and finally to 10.1% in January. It increased to 10.4% in February until dropping to 10.1% in March & 8.7% in May and April.
Despite recent somewhat significant drops, it stays well above the government’s official target of 2%.
Consumer prices rose faster than experts predicted last year, putting additional strain on household finances that are already stressed by a severe cost-of-living issue.
Making money has never been more difficult for savers. At a point when the most favorable easy-access financial savings rates are approximately 4.5%, current inflation has a catastrophic effect on the real worth of your money.
With such a mismatch amongst savings rates & inflation, there are few strategies to properly preserve, let alone expand, your wealth.
Investment is one possibility for savers who want to preserve their money in step with – or perhaps ahead of – inflation. However, keep in mind that it’s far far from a risk-free alternative, with the possibility of financial loss along the road.
Furthermore, the share markets have had their own issues in 2022. Fear is in control of investors everywhere, thanks to a strong mix of following the pandemic global prices, rising interest rates, and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
In the face of rising inflation, we asked experts to provide their insights on how investors might effectively structure their financial affairs and protect their capital during these trying times.
During instances of higher prices, real assets, such as stocks and shares, real estate, and commodities, tend to outperform cash and bonds. During the 1970s, gold, for example, was the best paying asset.
We recently examined the growth of both UK and foreign stocks during times of rising inflation from 1970 and discovered that UK markets outperformed global rivals during these periods. During periods of rising inflation, UK equities had annualised yields of 12.9% on average, compared to 7.7% for worldwide markets.
The UK market’s prolonged substantial exposure to the energy and commodity industries is most likely to blame. Holding shares in an energy company is an obvious ‘hedge’ against the present cost of living crisis. Within the sector, we now like Royal Dutch Shell.
We also believe that Amazon and Microsoft remain well-positioned due to their vulnerability to digital transformations for enterprises and migration to the “cloud.”
Although such initiatives will naturally be exposed to the broader economic climate, we believe they will continue to be among the top priorities for corporate customers, and hence such income streams will be reasonably well protected from immediate economic headwinds. These companies’ P/E ratios – a gauge of their valuations – have dropped since the very beginning of the year, making them appear affordable than what they were at the start of 2022.
At this point, US stock market indexes are declining from their all-time highs, with many more growth-oriented corporations (those expected to outperform the overall stock market) still selling below their highest points despite a recent comeback.