. The world will not be what it was. All our needs have changed and we will continue to transform. We cannot rest on our laurels and rely on the solutions of the past. Now is the time to work smartly. That will keep us relevant and ensure we continue on our upward trajectory.
While there are challenges and opportunities within the business environment, there is a disconnect to what is happening in investment markets. Investment markets are forward-looking pricing machines that try to value an asset 12-24 months into the future. What is in the news now has mostly been factored into the day’s price.
The biggest reason for the investment market disconnect to our immediate reality is embedded in the saying, “Never bet against the Fed”. The central banks in the US, UK, Europe and Japan have said they will do whatever it takes to protect their economies. They are doing this by pumping money into the financial system. With the property market being severely impaired and interest rates close to zero and negative, there is nowhere else for it to go.
While this is good news for investors, there is one huge caveat: governments are building up a huge debt burden that will need to be repaid by future generations — unless world economic growth is spectacular. Not quite the legacy we would want to leave to our children.