At the turn of the year, we forecast a period of heightened uncertainty and deliberated on whether the market optimism was justified. Then of course, the Ukraine war was not on the agenda and our thoughts rightly remain with those caught up in the dreadful conflict.

The human tragedy unfolding in Ukraine is fast-moving and uppermost in everyone’s minds and our thoughts go out to the brave people who are directly or indirectly caught up in the fighting.

2021 was the year when economies and markets began the period of ‘living with covid’. Like much to do with the pandemic, this has come about very quickly – even if it does not always feel like it.

The emergence of the omicron variant has, unsurprisingly, unsettled markets. A reminder, if any were needed, that the global pandemic is far from over.

As we entered Q4, markets were feeling a little less certain than earlier in the year. The momentum of the vaccine-led pick-up has played out, as anticipated, and is now balanced by the uneven nature of the global recovery.

Some good news at last for income-strapped investors as UK dividends recovered in the second quarter of this year. Excluding special dividends, which skew the picture, the quarter saw an increase of nearly 44% in distributions from the same period last year.