Julien Moutier

“Following a slight respite in December, the equity markets continued to adjust significantly downward in January. Data for the fourth quarter of 2008 reveal an international economy in recession. Volatility remained high, and during the course of the month any trading days on which prices rose were quickly cancelled out by profit-taking. As a result, returns on our portfolio suffered from the correction on the US and Asian markets while it benefited from our cautious stance on Europe. In the meantime, we were surprisingly penalised by the weakness of bond markets which faced strong issuance levels during the first two weeks of January.”