2025 Q1 Quarterly Investment Report

An excerpt from our 2025 Q1 Quarterly Investment Report: 

Policy uncertainty and concern that massive U.S. tariff increases would slow growth and raise prices dominated markets in the first quarter. Business and consumer sentiment soured. Firms deferred hiring and investment. Households feared sharply higher inflation, declining employment opportunities, and deteriorating financial conditions. The economic disruption of policy uncertainty was mirrored in market movements. U.S. equity prices fell sharply. Investment grade and high yield bond prices also declined. Non-U.S. equity markets, especially European and Chinese equities, performed much better than the U.S., despite uncertainty about the impact of increased U.S. tariffs on their exports. The U.S. dollar fell. Gold prices, in contrast, soared. As the quarter closed, markets anxiously awaited more clarity on the level and scope of tariffs. As we now know, such clarity as was provided offered little comfort.