Except for U.S. Equities, the widely followed asset classes* were up in Q1 2025. The notable positive performance was from Non-US stocks (Up 7%) and commodities (Up 8.9%). This underlines the importance of having sensibly diversified portfolios for the long term.
Of course, the first week of April upended all these trends as financial markets reacted very negatively to the Tariff war. If the most significant event in Q4 for Americans was the US election, then the most significant event for them was the Tariff war in Q1 2025. It started with promise that investors liked the plans of the new administration. Then, mid-February onwards, the markets started to decline with the decline accelerating at the end of the quarter. The reaction to the Tariff plans was sharply negative and moved many segments of the equity markets into Bear market territory literally in a few business days.
Analysts, investors and CEO’s are now trying to figure out the extent of damage caused and how to deal with the new realities.
So… how are we dealing with these markets for our clients?
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