Brewin Dolphin Podcast

In our second podcast of the week, Guy Foster invites David Lewis, CEO of Tesco, to talk about the recent flood of deflationary news, and the strategic challenges put forward when operating in such conditions. We then move onto the contentious topic of supermarket capacity which has been outstripping supply, and how Tesco have adapted to the changes in consumer demand/shopping trends. Looking further ahead at the longer term vision of the company, we consider the role of automation in stores, and the future of online retailing.

Please review the podcast on iTunes and if you have any particular requests for topics to be covered then please post them on our website or on Twitter using the tag #BrewinPodcast.

The value of investments can fall and you may get back less than you invested. Past performance is not a guide to future performance. All information within this publication is for illustrative purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. No investment is suitable in all cases and you have any doubts as to an investment’s suitability then you should contact your financial adviser. The opinions expressed in this podcast are not necessarily the views held throughout Brewin Dolphin Ltd. We or a connected person may have positions in or options on the securities mentioned herein or may buy, sell or offer to make a purchase or sale of such security mentioned in this podcast. For further information, please refer to our conflicts policy which is available on the footer below. If you invest in currencies other than your own, fluctuations in currency value will mean that the value of your investment will move independently of the underlying asset.

In this week’s final podcast we hear part of Ben Gutteridge’s interview with former business secretary Sir Vince Cable who speaks candidly about Jeremy Corbyn and his counsel, Richard Murphy. We then give Richard Murphy an opportunity to reply for reasons that will become obvious when you hear Sir Vince’s remarks. Taking a higher level view, Guy Foster is joined by Iain Anderson of Cicero Group to discuss the political landscape as it lies following the conclusion of the Labour and Conservative Party conferences.

Please review the podcast on iTunes and if you have any particular requests for topics to be covered then please post them on our website or on Twitter using the tag #BrewinPodcast

The value of investments can fall and you may get back less than you invested. Past performance is not a guide to future performance. All information within this publication is for illustrative purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. No investment is suitable in all cases and you have any doubts as to an investment’s suitability then you should contact your financial adviser. The opinions expressed in this podcast are not necessarily the views held throughout Brewin Dolphin Ltd. We or a connected person may have positions in or options on the securities mentioned herein or may buy, sell or offer to make a purchase or sale of such security mentioned in this podcast. For further information, please refer to our conflicts policy which is available on the footer below. If you invest in currencies other than your own, fluctuations in currency value will mean that the value of your investment will move independently of the underlying asset.

In the wake of a fascinating week for markets, characterised by sharp falls in bonds, Brewin Dolphin’s Head of Research, Guy Foster is joined by Jonathan Wilmott, Head of Macro at Credit Suisse Asset Management. Discussing bonds’ fall from grace, Jonathan attests that global growth, which had been slowing into April, has now begun to pick up once more. Bond markets have responded violently partly because of the exceptionally low yields they had fallen to, which offer little return for the investors interested in fundamental value. Systematic fund managers, on the other hand, who use quantitative models based on moving averages to signal whether the manager should buy or sell fixed income maintain long positions while bonds are trending higher and now need to sell those holdings as the trend looks to reverse.

The conversation moves swiftly on from bond markets to productivity and in particular the reasons behind his view that productivity will continue to rise. Technological improvements are very difficult to quantify however Jonathan is excited about the potential to lower costs in two massively influential economic drivers: data collection and analysis, and the efficiency of battery power storage – the latter providing a means to harness intermittent sustainable sources of power and therefore significantly alter the basis of future real GDP growth. This is in stark contrast to academic Robert Gordon’s view that productivity has peaked and will now start to diminish.

Finally, and perhaps of some comfort to listeners, Jonathan extolls his faith in the Chinese authorities’ ability to manage slowing economic activity with the numerous monetary policy options available to them, leaving him bullish on Chinese and by implication economy.

Please review the podcast on iTunes and if you have any particular requests for topics to be covered then please post them on our website or on Twitter using the tag #BrewinPodcast

The value of investments can fall and you may get back less than you invested. Past performance is not a guide to future performance. All information within this publication is for illustrative purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. No investment is suitable in all cases and you have any doubts as to an investment’s suitability then you should contact your financial adviser. The opinions expressed in this podcast are not necessarily the views held throughout Brewin Dolphin Ltd. We or a connected person may have positions in or options on the securities mentioned herein or may buy, sell or offer to make a purchase or sale of such security mentioned in this podcast. For further information, please refer to our conflicts policy which is available on the footer below.

This week Ben Gutteridge, Head of Fund Research, discusses the UK economy and stock market with Invesco Perpetual's Mark Barnett. Barnett currently manages a range of UK equity products that total approx £24bn. Barnett is also widely known for inheriting Woodford's mandates following his departure in 2014. The focus of the conversation is on the Tobacco, Pharmaceutical and Banking sectors, but time is made to analyse the threat of a potential Brexit.

The Invesco Perpetual High Income Fund may use derivatives (complex instruments) in an attempt to reduce the overall risk of its investments, reduce the costs of investing and/or generate additional capital or income, although this may not be achieved. The use of such complex instruments may result in greater fluctuations of the value of the fund. The Manager, however, will ensure that the use of derivatives within the fund does not materially alter the overall risk profile of the fund. Please ensure you have been provided with the most recent share class specific Key Investor Information Document(s) before making any decision to invest.

Please review the podcast on iTunes and if you have any particular requests for topics to be covered then please post them on our website or on Twitter using the tag #BrewinPodcast.

The value of investments can fall and you may get back less than you invested. Past performance is not a guide to future performance. All information within this publication is for illustrative purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. No investment is suitable in all cases and you have any doubts as to an investment’s suitability then you should contact your financial adviser. The opinions expressed in this podcast are not necessarily the views held throughout Brewin Dolphin Ltd. We or a connected person may have positions in or options on the securities mentioned herein or may buy, sell or offer to make a purchase or sale of such security mentioned in this podcast. For further information, please refer to our conflicts policy which is available on the footer below. If you invest in currencies other than your own, fluctuations in currency value will mean that the value of your investment will move independently of the underlying asset.

In a follow up to Easy Rieder (an interview with BlackRock’s CIO of Fixed Income), Ben Gutteridge concludes his New York excursion with conversations with Chen Zhao, Co-director of Global Macro Research at BrandyWine, and Neil Williams Chief Economist at Hermes Investment Management.

In the meeting Chen looks at the parallels between the current market environment and the mid 90s, as well as discussing what this means for future monetary policy and the fortunes for currency and asset class performance. Neil lays the foundation for his global investment thesis over the medium term, whilst also giving us some latitude to talk (somewhat) off-topic on the economic progress of the UK.

The value of investments can fall and you may get back less than you invested. Past performance is not a guide to future performance. All information within this publication is for illustrative purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. No investment is suitable in all cases and you have any doubts as to an investment’s suitability then you should contact your financial adviser. The opinions expressed in this podcast are not necessarily the views held throughout Brewin Dolphin Ltd. We or a connected person may have positions in or options on the securities mentioned herein or may buy, sell or offer to make a purchase or sale of such security mentioned in this podcast. For further information, please refer to our conflicts policy which is available on the footer below.