‘I’ve seen how much the S&P 500 has gone up, why haven’t my investments done the same?’, I’ve been asked a few times now by clients who’ve done their homework (‘Clever Clogs’? You may think that…). The answer is, of course, that those same clients would be equally worried about too many eggs in a single basket, and while most portfolios will have a good chunk invested in the US Stockmarket, there should always be a spread; and here’s the reason. Most of the rise has been driven by shares in tech companies, and there are worries about another .com bubble about to burst; as did the last one, pretty spectacularly, some 24 years ago now. The consensus seems to be that this time it’s different. Most of the shares bubbling up then were doing on the basis of future profits and the problem was virtually none of them were actually then making any money. Now they are, from Amazon to Apple to those you might not have heard of, ARM and Nvidia, who make chips of the less fattening and edible kind. What goes up, and so on, but those who should know do think there’s a bit more to it this time around.
“Reeves backs down on plans to cut ISA limit”
So it looks as though Cash ISAs are safe for the moment (FTM – is that a thing?) Rachel has apparently ‘bowed to pressure’ from the banks and building societies and decided not to reduce the allowance to £4,000 for cash and to keep the £20,000 parity with Stocks and Shares ISAs. Bowed also to common sense, I’d say.
