Since 2006, Federal Reserve interest rates had been floating around zero, but yesterday it was announced that there would be an increase of 25 basis points. Janet Yellen, Chair of the Federal Reserve, went on to promise a gradual rise in interest rates with a target of 1.5% by the middle of 2017. It was an increase which has been expected for some time, and had become more or less inevitable. If rates had stayed at zero heading into the New Year, in all likelihood the market

October was a sluggish month for the market, with the S&P 500 only registering minute growth of 0.05 percent, and retail said to be stuttering in the run-up to the festive period. Despite that, we were delighted to see our QVP strategy outperform and post a monthly return of 1.00 percent. QVP, our domestic large-cap value strategy, continues to outperform the market on a long-term consistent basis and offer excellent value to our clients, as illustrated in the table below: Li

Many people planning for their future retirement were given a shock with the passing of the government’s two-year budget deal at the end of October, as we previously reported on. By increasing government spending and suspending the debt ceiling so as to avoid a default, Social Security was tapped as one of the areas where savings could be made. Two key changes were made: no more double claiming (where some dual-earner married couples who are 66 or older have been claiming Soc