2022 was a year that was plagued by high inflation, the war in Ukraine, further COVID-19 related lockdowns and painful central bank interest rate hikes. It offered investors limited places to hide, and as such, for many it may be a year they would prefer to forget. For bond investors, this year goes on record as the worse year since inception for the Barclay’s Global Aggregate Bond Index, which was down about 16.3% for the year. Equity markets brought no relief either with major equity indexes finishing the year in the red: S&P 500 -18.1%, Euro Stoxx 50 -8.6%, MSCI World -17.7%, MSCI EM -19.7%. The energy sector was perhaps the only exception (other than the US dollar) which had its best year on record closing at 47.8%.
December offered little in the way of an uplifting close for markets with no sign of a Santa Claus rally. The key events of the month were focussed on inflation data and the final actions in 2022 made by central banks globally.
