The financial markets have now been under the spell of inflation developments for months. Although the rise in consumer prices did not start with the Ukraine war, the conflict has added fuel to the fire. While it is the increase in petrol and food prices that has attracted media headlines, the steady increase in core inflation, i.e. excluding energy and food, is largely being underestimated. Global central banks are responding by hiking interest rates and reducing monetary liquidity, leaving many investments vulnerable, especially those that had enjoyed historically high valuations. We are maintaining our equity position, which we have reduced since the fourth quarter of 2021, and favour more defensive Swiss equities.

At the end of June 2022, our Chief Investment Officer, Gérard Piasko, spoke with Marc Jäggi, Head Moderation at Radio 1, about the medium-term monetary policy of the US and Switzerland and the need for further interest rate hikes.

Decentralised finance, or “DeFi” for short, is on everyone’s lips. While some expect the new decentralised financial system to replace the traditional industry logic, others believe it is nothing more than hype and will vanish again. What is certain is that DeFi applications are among the fastest growing sectors of the crypto industry and are now worth billions. Only time will tell whether DeFi actually becomes an alternative financial system. However, it is certainly worth looking into already.