A changing landscape

The year 2003 proved to be a roller coaster ride in terms of market volatility and the high incidence of event risk; these included the Iraqi war, terrorism fears, the still mysterious Sars virus and economic disappointments. In Switzerland, rising jobless figures across all age groups and at all levels of seniority depressed sentiment and dampened the outlook. The continuing downward spiral in the equity markets appeared to be the logical consequence of one gloomy headline after another. After this spectacularly bad start to 2003, following three consecutive years of severely negative s...