Worldwide Financial Planning

The White House announced what it called the most crushing economic campaign ever waged on Iran and threatened to bomb Oman, the mediator, while Tehran promised to go fully offensive. Oil rose a fourth week, the energy price cap pushed British inflation to 2.9%, and governments kept borrowing into
the storm, with America’s debt passing $40tn.

Regulation changes behaviour. It changes what providers build, what advisers fear, what compliance departments approve and what pension schemes choose for people who will never read the fund factsheet.

Washington ended the week threatening to make its blockade of Iranian oil indefinite unless the Strait of Hormuz reopens, and Tehran keeps raising its price, so crude sits near $87. The cupboard is barer than the price admits.

Following the theme of passive investing…. a forest with 10 enormous trees can look magnificent from a helicopter. Walk underneath and find no saplings, poor soil or biodiversity and you have a different picture.

Hopes of a deal added to equity market positivity following some strong tech earnings updates, although there are still some concerns about the scale of AI investment. However, America has been excluded from the talks between Iran and Oman. This may help secure a short-term agreement but the US is further from its goals than ever and has shown its willingness to return to hostilities.

Passive investing has been one of the great consumer wins of the last half century. Trackers and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have cut charges, exposed lazy active managers and given ISA and pension investors access to markets at costs that once sounded like fantasy.