With global stock markets in bullish form and the all-important US benchmark, the S&P 500, threatening to crash past the psychologically important 5500 level, our monthly fund’s report spins through some left-field ideas for bears and bulls from the world of ETFs and investment trusts. We look at everything from strategies that benefit from sudden

Our monthly funds roundup looks at why prospects for the UK economy and funds investing in our local markets might be looking up, the general election notwithstanding. We also repeat the bull case for gold and look at a model that suggests that gold could push closer to $2750 an ounce in an optimistic scenario.

Our regular monthly funds column looks at the bidding battle at music royalties fund Hipgnosis, the new ETF platform from Cathie Woods Ark Invest for UK investors, a new rare earth equities tracker, and the potential for a rebound in the listed private equity funds space. Plus, a think tank takes aim at ISAs. Hipgnosis

The gold price has been perking up in recent weeks – is now the time to be looking at the wide array of gold-based funds, especially in this era of monetary inflation powered by big government? This month David also looks at whether the private equity market is improving, plus he shines the spotlight again

This month we track down the listed investment funds which are still trading near their 52-week discount peaks and take a closer look at the worst offender in this category – the Digital 9 Infrastructure trust which is on the receiving end of yet more bad news. Not all big discount funds are worth the

In this month’s focus on funds, we take a quick look at asset class returns in 2023 courtesy of some wonderful heatmaps, we eavesdrop on a recent bank event at the state of UK PLC, and we examine an under-owned asset class that could be the verge of big things – local currency emerging markets

2023 was the year of AI and we end the year with a deep dive into the handful of AI-specific exchange-traded funds or ETFs listed on the London exchange. They all provide real diversification benefits but have lagged big well-known individual stocks such as Nvidia and Microsoft. We also have a deep dive into a

Investment trusts have rallied in recent days as investors bet on falling interest rates in the coming 18 months, pushing many funds off their 52-week discount highs. That’s left some investors worried they might have missed the big opportunities in funds land but there’s still plenty of very cheap – sometimes for a reason –

Given the surge in bond yields over the last few weeks, the monthly funds’ article focuses on the opportunities within the bond ETF space, looking first at the universe of cheap UK sterling bond ETFs and then at a wild shot idea, a US Treasury bond ETF that has been an utter dog in recent

There’s something of an income theme to this month’s funds focus. First up is a specialist lending fund whose shares have fallen sharply in value yet the fund is still churning out a reliable 8% plus yield. Next up we investigate the ups and downs of the music royalty funds – very much a yield

This months’ focus on funds explains why a peak in short-term government bond yields might presage a sudden turnaround in sentiment towards the listed infrastructure fund space. We also look at a stockmarket listed venture capital fund that is full of AI early-stage businesses but is valued at well below its book value by a