Watch the discussion above for Q&A on this quarter’s report, or read on below for a summary.  There’s also podcast available.

For the fifth quarter in a row, the Courtiers Multi-Asset range had positive returns. The Cautious Risk Fund, Balanced Risk Fund, and Growth Fund returned +0.36%, +0.53%, and +0.48%, respectively. The Global (ex-UK) Equity Income Fund returned +1.29%, helped by a weakening pound. Meanwhile, the UK Equity Income Fund and Ethical Value Equity Fund returned -3.75% and -2.83%, respectively, in the quarter. The Investment Grade Bond Fund was down marginally with a return of -0.25%.

Similar to last year’s Q2 report, when President Trump announced the imposition of tariffs that caused a sell-off in early April only for markets to recover by the end of the quarter, the small positive returns in the Multi-Asset Funds mask a volatile opening to 2026. Through to 27th February, the whole fund range was up +5.86% on average. However, the next day the US and Israel launched attacks against Iran that rocked markets across the globe. Oil was the big mover due to the conflict. Brent rose 94.25% in the quarter as Iran blocked 20% of the world’s oil supply that passes through the Strait of Hormuz. This is a huge reversal of 2025 when oil was one of the only assets to have a negative year and had fallen below $60 a barrel a few times.

The next casualty of the quarter was bonds as interest rates rose due to the potential inflation shock from the Middle Eastern conflict. This has been an all-too-familiar phrase over the last four years. Before March, there was a high chance that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of England would cut rates at their next meeting on 19th March; however, they voted unanimously to hold when it arrived. Inflation did go back to target in 2024 but core inflation – a measure of price increases excluding volatile items like food and energy that gives a clearer view of underlying long-term inflation expectations – has stayed stubbornly above 3%. The latest inflation shock means that the market has gone from expecting two rate cuts this year to expecting two rate rises by the MPC. Inflation also affects market interest rates, as lenders demand higher rates to compensate for the erosion of value of their loans in real terms. The rate at which the UK government can borrow for 10 years (the 10-year Gilt yield) rose from 4.48% at the beginning of the quarter to 4.95% by the end. This meant UK government bonds, measured by the FTSE Gilts All Stocks Index, dropped -1.85% with long-dated gilts (over 15 years to maturity) falling -4.07%.

The FTSE 100 eked out a positive quarter with a return of +3.42%, helped by a strong January and February. However, domestically focused smaller companies, as measured by the FTSE 250 ex-IT and the FTSE Small-Cap ex-IT lagged their larger counterparts, returning -5.69% and -4.07%, respectively. UK domestic stocks are more susceptible to economic conditions, so the prospect of higher inflation and rising interest rates dragged them down.

The US equity market, measured by the S&P 500, continued to stall as questions surrounding capital expenditure of large tech firms loomed. The S&P 500 fell -4.33%, led by the seven largest tech stocks dubbed the “Magnificent 7”. All members of the Magnificent 7 fell, but Microsoft – the largest company in the world by market cap last year – fell -23.45%. Nvidia, the new largest company in the world, was the most defensive of the Magnificent 7, only falling -6.48%. Suppliers of the AI data centre boom, such as Nvidia, continue to benefit from capital spending done by companies like Microsoft even as questions about this spending arise.

The Stoxx 50, representing the 50 largest European companies, fell -3.49%. This was the case with many net energy importers across the world. China and India, two of the largest oil importers in the world, fell -14.54% and -8.53%, respectively. However, emerging markets as a whole rose 2.19%, helped by oil-exporting Brazil and countries benefiting from the AI infrastructure boom such as Taiwan and Korea. Samsung Electronics, a position in the Multi-Asset Funds, rose nearly 40% in Q1 2026. This is the third consecutive quarter it has risen by 40%, as demand for RAM across the whole market outstripped supply.

Japan was the best-performing developed market after the Topix (Tokyo Price Index), an index that represents the entire Japanese market, rose +3.64% in the quarter. Japan benefited from a decisive election victory by the incumbent Liberal Democratic Party. This boosted confidence in export-driven earnings and expectations for new pro-growth stimulus.

Gold and silver continued an incredible run of performance in the first quarter of 2026, rising +7.14% and +6.26%, respectively. However, cracks have begun to show in the rally as they fell during March, a period of geopolitical tension and inflation – conditions under which they are typically expected to perform best.