The Two Johns: Trade of the Decade - half-time report

Welcome to another episode of The Two Johns, the investment trust podcast brought to you by the website www.johnbaronportfolios.co.uk. Each month, John Baron joins former Investors' Chronicle editor John Hughman to discuss the big themes dominating the investment landscape and the important issues affecting the sector, while explaining how these are influencing the way the website's ten live investment trust portfolios are being managed.

In episode 22, they discuss the progress of John Baron’s “Trade of the Decade”, a decade outlook first mooted five years ago, revisiting the case for investing in the UK and its undervalued stock market. They explore why UK equities have defied pessimistic expectations, the growing appeal of value investing, and why smaller companies and investment trusts may now increasingly contribute to themarket’s continued strong performance over the next half-decade.

In the second section, they also look at the recent rise in long bond yields, and the structural forces keeping inflation and interest rates higher, including geopolitical uncertainty, deglobalisation and increased expenditure on defence,the energy transition, infrastructure and AI spending – and why, in the context of mounting government debt and stretched central bank credibility, they remain cautious on equities generally while favouring the UK market and alternative investments.