Alan Steel
01506 842365
MENU
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Close
    • About Us
    • What We Do
      • Close
      • What We Do
      • Our Services
      • Our Philosophy
      • Our Awards
      • Our Reputation
    • Who We Are
      • Close
      • Who We Are
      • Meet the team
    • Our Approach
    • Financial Planning
  • Testimonials
  • Investments
    • Close
    • Investments
    • Investment Advice
    • Portfolio Building
  • Pensions
    • Close
    • Pensions
    • Retirement Planning
    • Early Retirement
    • Pensions as simple as...
  • Tax
    • Close
    • Tax
    • Tax Advice
    • Tax Planning
    • When I'm Dead and Gone
    • Inheritance Tax
    • HMRC Digital Accounts
  • Insights & Media
    • Close
    • Insights & Media
    • Letters from Linlithgow
    • Informing You
    • Letter from America
    • See us in the Press
    • Master Investor
    • Points of Few
  • Contact Us
Independent financial advisers founded in 1975
Over £1.4 billion client funds under management
17 industry awards for advice since 1989

By Steve Forbes, ASAM Managing Director

Alan Steel Asset Management Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate tax advice.

This letter is the personal view of Steve Forbes. Please check the appropriateness to your individual position with your adviser before taking or refraining from any action.

Informing You

2021 – Good riddance!

By Steve Forbes | Tuesday, 04 January, 2022

For the first time in my life I am looking forward to seeing Aly Bain and Phil Cunningham on telly on Hogmanay.  Not because I enjoy listening to their music, far from it in fact, but it means that 2021 is coming to an end! 

I regard myself as a positive person but even I have struggled to keep a cheery demeanour at times given what we have had to endure over the last twenty months, and just as it looked like we were getting out of the woods we can now look forward to Greek lettered variants of the Covid virus popping up like a Whack-A-Mole game. 

To better describe how we are all feeling I think scientists should start using the Scots language to denote these variants.  Let’s be honest there is no better language in the world when it comes to descriptive words, especially negative.  I mean even when things are good we say ‘nae bad’.  Why use one positive word when two negatives will do!

I have no doubt that a future headline such as “fears grow as the ‘Truly Scunnered’ variant takes hold” or “the ‘Gie’s a Break’ variant is now dominant” would be more apt than ‘Sigma’ or ‘Omega’ which are probably lurking over the horizon.

One bright spot over the period has been the markets which have been ‘nae bad’.  We will see how they react if the Omicron variant results in a longer term slowdown of the economy but right now I suspect they anticipate this having a shorter term impact than the variants we have seen before.  

We are living in an uncertain time, but at least we know that.  From an investment point of view, it is often when there is a consensus as to how economies will perform that unforeseen events have the biggest impact on markets.  Given it is impossible to confidently predict how the next week, let alone the next twelve months, will pan out only a ‘bampot’ would be willing to predict how markets will perform over that period.

I will however make one prediction for 2022 and that is we will probably hear a lot more about the Metaverse.  

This is a virtual world that some people predict we will all eventually live separate lives in.  Already some uber-wealthy (or ‘glaikit’) people are flexing their muscles and earlier this month someone paid the equivalent of $908,000 to buy a yacht for them to use in this parallel universe.  

For the uninitiated this yacht is not a real physical thing but a cartoon yacht that its new owner can invite his cartoon friends to board.  It also looks like something a five year old could rustle up with an average Lego set.  I am not making this up!

I know things have been pretty ‘keech’ in the real world but surely things are not so bad that people are reduced to spending money buying cartoon things that their avatar can wear and use in a virtual world.  Who knows?  I could be totally wrong and in a few years maybe we all will be having meetings with clients on the Metaverse.  

What a depressing thought (although you can bet my avatar will be a lot better looking than I am so maybe there is a plus point).

One thing that is for sure, is at ASAM we will continue to try and cut through the noise, both real and virtual, and do our best to ensure that your ‘bawbees’ are invested in a way that will avoid you going ‘doolally’*.

So until we meet again, stay safe, and I wish you and your families a wonderful Christmas and best wishes for 2022.  

Slainte!

*Actually not a Scottish word, but should be!

©2022 Alan Steel Asset Management Limited is authorised & regulated by The Financial Conduct Authority. Please note that the Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate some forms of tax advice. Company Registration: SC58014

You should remember that the value of an investment and the income from it could go down as well as up. The return at the end of the investment period is not guaranteed and you may get back less than you originally invested.

The investment services and/or investments referred to in this website may not be suitable for you. If you are unsure we suggest you contact us to discuss matters further. If we believe our services are not right for you we will tell you.

When investing money, whether for income or growth, you are placing your capital at risk as the value of investments may vary, so you could get back less than you started with.

The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate Tax Advice, Trusts or wills. Alan Steel Asset Management Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. The guidance contained in this website is subject to the regulatory regime of the UK.

The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) is an agency for arbitrating on unresolved complaints between regulated firms and their clients.

FOS details can be found at www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk

Alan Steel Asset Management Limited are not responsible for the content of external sites.

  • Cookie Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Website terms and conditions
  • Tax Services Privacy Notice
  • Contact Us

This site uses cookies. By using this site you agree to the use of cookies. Read our Cookie Policy