Global growth continues to slow

At the end of the third quarter in 2000 we moved overweight to equities against bonds. Profit growth, although slowing, remained positive and central bank tightening appeared to be reaching its peak. Needless to say our bullish position has been suffering but we remain positive as the fundamentals remain sound. Economies continue to slow and central banks have stopped raising interest rates. Economic growth should continue to slow in 2001, led primarily by industrial and manufacturing output, which will be hampered by slowing global growth. Against this background, we believe there is s...