The OECD believe that the long awaited ‘double dip’ will eventually show up next year, fuelled in no small part by the troubles in Europe and the rolling cuts by Mr Osborne and friends. The Chancellor unsurprisingly disagrees and sees his Government safely guiding the UK through this miserable period. For many people though, the fallout from 2008 is still very apparent with unemployment still high, pay frozen for most of the employed while the cost of living has continued to rise. Recession or no recession, the feeling amongst many of our clients is that of uncertainty and often apprehension.
The continued poor health of the economy keeps many savers waiting on the sidelines to ‘see what happens’ before committing to invest or spend what cash reserves they have left. Perhaps they are right, the world’s economy is damaged on so many different levels that it is easy to convince oneself that the doom and gloom will last forever. Conversely though, there are other respected opinions with far more positive outlooks and we still see many fantastic opportunities for investors. People must remember that this is temporary and consider their time horizons. There are many wonderfully mispriced and cheap assets to be found and bought up during this period of turmoil if one is planning for the long term.