Following the bout of weakness in October, which we commented upon in our note entitled “Keep Calm and Keep Shares”, and the subsequent recovery, company share markets have experienced further volatility, as we expected in the second half of this year (see our 10 July 2014 note entitled “A Quietly Profitable First Half ”).

Angela Merkel’s favourite set of facts about Europe are that it represents 7% of the world’s population, 25% of the world’s GDP and 50% of the world’s social spending.

At the beginning of 2014 we forecast that investing in markets this year would be less profitable but more volatile than in 2013. So far in 2014, the first aspect of our forecast has been borne out, with most asset classes showing total returns of between 0% and 5%, the major exception being UK commercial property with a total return of about 8%.