Financials still fare well globally

Financials accounts for around 25% of the world's equity markets, making it the largest sector and a critical one to get right. Not all of the constituent parts behave uniformly of course and neither does investor behaviour, but that is what creates investment opportunities. The current economic climate has generally been good for financials: steady growth, low interest rates and low inflation. The credit cycle for banks and the underwriting cycle for insurance have also been positive in 2004. One area which has suffered is the more mainstream part of the fund management sector, where bo...