Learning the value of education Martyn Jones Education plays a part in four of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and benefits countries financially, with every $1 invested yielding $10 in economic returns. Martyn Jones of the Liontrust Sustainable Investment team explains how investors may also benefit from the expected growth in spending on education around the world. Read more Healthy investing Martyn Jones Martyn Jones explains how companies can help people achieve a better lifestyle through healthier eating and physical activity, while also potentially benefitting financially. Read more 2017 in review – and a glance towards 2018 John Husselbee As many predicted, the twin forces of Brexit and Donald Trump have dominated headlines in a year of elections, nuclear sabre rattling and, for the most part, rising markets. John Husselbee looks back at the key events of 2017 and forward to next year – with more Trump, more Brexit and a side order of policy normalisation to keep things exciting. Read more Banking on returns Chris Foster Chris Foster describes how banks can drive shareholder returns by being a powerful force for good for their customers. Read more Winning by not losing: parking the fund management bus John Husselbee Defensive tactics in football often come under fire but can form the basis of a title-winning campaign. A key part of our investment approach is winning by not losing, meaning we focus as much on avoiding losses as we do on generating gains, and we believe this can help to produce long-term wealth creation. Read more Lower CO2 emissions from Liontrust Sustainable Future Funds Mike Appleby Analysis shows the Liontrust Sustainable Future Funds continue to emit significantly less CO2 – on average emitting 65% less carbon dioxide from their operations than their benchmarks, as the illustration and chart show. Read more The investment opportunity in ‘Fossil Fuel Free’ Neil Brown Neil Brown discusses how Liontrust’s Sustainable Future Funds benefit from investing in businesses that are profiting from the ‘Fossil Free’ movement. Read more Road to prosperity Neil Brown The United Nations has targets to halve the number of deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents by 2020. This is not only the right thing to do but is also profitable for those companies that can develop the technologies that will deliver this target. Read more Is it worth waiting for a correction? John Husselbee Last week’s first interest rate rise in the UK for 10 years was widely trumpeted as a boon for savers, with deposit rates having been pinned close to zero since 2009. Read more How the Sustainable Future funds are aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals Mike Appleby We have been asked by clients to show how the companies we invest in for our Sustainable Future range of funds are aligned with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Read more The investment case for “doing good” Peter Michaelis Sustainable investment is not only for investors who want their investments to “do good” and benefit society. We believe there is also a compelling investment case for all investors taking this approach. This is because long-term transformative developments, such as technological and medical advancements, not only have positive impacts on society, they have the potential to deliver attractive returns for investors as well. Read more Liontrust’s Ghoulish Gallery Matt Tonge, Mike Appleby, Stephen Bailey, Olly Russ, John Husselbee, Mark Williams & James Inglis-Jones Our fund managers highlight the charts, stats and facts with the potential to spook investors this Halloween and explain how their portfolios are positioned to withstand them. Read more Sustainable business Mike Appleby Sustainable investment offers business opportunities to advisers because we believe that interest in and demand for this area will only continue to grow. Read more Investing for tomorrow, today Peter Michaelis Sustainability is an increasingly important theme for today’s consumers, who want what they wear, eat and even drive to both benefit themselves and have a positive impact on the world around them. Sustainable investment also has the potential to have positive impacts on society and to deliver attractive returns for investors as well. Read more The PRI 12 years on Peter Michaelis 'We must work to make companies do more to respect human rights; to allow collective bargaining; we must develop ways to reduce inequality, to curtail CEO pay; we must accelerate decarbonisation; rein in the tech giants and ensure we achieve the Sustainable Development goals.' Read more What does the BoE’s rate hint mean for stock pickers? Samantha Gleave “…monetary policy could need to be tightened by a somewhat greater extent over the forecast period than current market expectations.” Monetary Policy Committee Decision, 14 September 2017. Read more 3 success stories and 3 to watch Matt Tonge 18 months on from the Fund’s launch, co-manager Matt Tonge takes a look at three ‘success stories’ which have already graduated from the micro cap space and highlights three ‘ones to watch’ from the companies the team has bought so far this year. Read more The best of times, the worst of times John Husselbee We are living through a time of historic contradictions: political turbulence and yet market highs and low market volatility. John Husselbee analyses four potential triggers that might lead to market falls in the second half of the year. Read more Why we look for businesses which don’t rely on regulation Neil Brown Neil Brown, co-manager on the Liontrust Sustainable Investment team, speaks to CNBC’s Squawk Box. Read more Living in a low-volatility world John Husselbee Volatility – or the current lack of it – is a hot topic in investment circles, with the so-called Fear index in the US (known as the Vix) sitting at all-time lows. Read more Reports of Quality’s death are greatly exaggerated Julian Fosh Over the last year or so, there has been a growing investment debate over the prospects for ‘quality’ and ‘value’ investment styles. The concern for some is that shares in high-quality companies have performed very well, and could be vulnerable to a correction relative to ‘value’ stocks. Read more Five small & mid-cap picks Julian Fosh The Liontrust UK Growth Fund invests in companies with Economic Advantage characteristics across the UK market cap spectrum. We currently have over a third of the Fund invested in small and mid-cap stocks and here I highlight five of the best. Read more What is the next frontier in the digital age? Simon Clements The digital age has exploded onto the scene and changed the world in many ways. Most of us now feel lost if we don’t have our smartphone close to hand, while misplacing it feels a bit like losing an arm. Read more A postcard from the West Coast Simon Clements Having spent the last week visiting the West Coast of the US, I was struck by the innovation and growth of businesses in San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Phoenix, San Diego and Los Angeles. Read more #whomademyclothes Neil Brown This Sunday marks the end of Fashion Revolution Week, the centrepiece of a campaign to increase transparency in the global garment industry. Read more Running the rule over Trump’s first 100 days John Husselbee, Jamie Clark, Mark Williams, James Inglis-Jones & Olly Russ As President Trump approaches his 100th day in office (29 April), Liontrust’s fund managers take a look at his impact on markets. Read more Tapping into the Digital Economy Victoria Stevens It’s hard to attach a value to ‘digital economy’ benefits for any given company, but earlier this year the US mega-deal between Verizon and Yahoo gave us an example of how much it can cost to get your digital strategy wrong: $350m. Read more Great Expectations? John Husselbee Financial markets are often said to be driven by investor expectations, the so-called fear and greed. This is perhaps best summarised by the frequently quoted father of value investing, Benjamin Graham: "In the short run, the market is a voting machine but, in the long run, it is a weighing machine.” Read more Five European small cap picks Samantha Gleave In this blog, I am taking the opportunity to look at five of the stocks we have included in the GF European Smaller Companies Fund, which we launched at the start of February. Read more Beware over-paying for forecast growth James Inglis-Jones We hold an upbeat assessment of the outlook for European equities this year but we are very cognisant of the need to limit exposure to some extreme valuations being afforded to stocks meeting certain investment characteristics. Read more Sustainable Future funds emit much less carbon dioxide than their benchmark Mike Appleby Mike Appleby, Investment Manager analyses how much carbon dioxide is emitted by our funds compared to the markets they invest in. Read more Liontrust fund managers’ “Reasons to be Cheerful” in 2017 Having given us their Halloween “Reasons to be Fearful”, we asked the same Liontrust fund managers to highlight aspects of their research which point to a more optimistic outlook for 2017. Read more A desynchronising world John Husselbee Are you still playing Pokémon Go? The online game was released to the world in early July this year and soon went viral over the summer. However the game today is seemingly unfashionable with its rapid decline in recent months clearly charted by Google Trends. And whilst gamers are abandoning Pokémon Go, it seems that investors are beginning to shy away from government bonds. Read more Where investors should seek sanctuary from inflation Anthony Cross A key tenet of our investment process is the importance of barriers to competition. We have moulded our approach around the identification of characteristics which we believe allow companies to sustain profits in the face of competitive threats. It is this theoretical ability to generate a higher than average level of profitability for longer than expected which we refer to as Economic Advantage. Read more Liontrust fund managers’ scariest charts As Halloween approaches, Liontrust’s fund managers highlight the most frightening data they’ve come across in their research Read more Generating an income in a low yield environment Aitken Ross Aitken Ross, Investment Manager, looks at how we could offer the perfect solution for savers and retirees looking to generate income in a low yield environment. Read more Four reasons to divest from fossil fuels Tony Greenham, Head of Finance and Business at RSA, and member of our advisory committee, looks at the demise of fossil fuels in light of the recent COP22 conference in Marrakesh and why from an investment perspective divestment is the only sensible approach to take. Read more Picking Quality and Value routes to cash flow growth Samantha Gleave Having had a cautious outlook for much of this year, we recently moved to a more neutral view on the prospects for European markets. The investment environment should continue to be one in which high-quality cash-generative stocks are in demand, but there are also pockets of the stock-market offering contrarian value opportunities. Read more Lessons from 10 years at the helm of Liontrust European Growth James Inglis-Jones 1. Define and thoroughly research an investment process before you start implementing it An investment process can’t simply be theoretical, it also needs to be backed up by historical analysis to demonstrate that it works. Read more Do you hear the people sing? John Husselbee In my experience of fund management over the past thirty years, political risk has traditionally been more associated with emerging market economies rather than those of the developed world. The simple rationale has been that emerging market governments are typically considered to be less stable, and so investors should in turn demand a risk premium in the form of a higher expected return. Read more Investing in the economy of tomorrow Tim Jackson, Professor of Sustainable Development at the University of Surrey, and member of our advisory committee, looks at what tomorrow's economy will be like and why ATI are well placed to benefit from this inevitable shift. Read more Alzheimer's: new research provides big opportunities Laurie Don Laurie Don, Investment Manager at ATI, discusses the potential investment opportunities in companies trialling new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease. Read more Electric dreams: when will every car be battery powered? Peter Michaelis Investment Managers at ATI investigate how the obstacles currently facing the electric car industry may soon be overcome, presenting a promising investment opportunity. Read more Saving for the future: investing in retirement Chris Foster Chris Foster, investment analyst at ATI, examines the radically shifting landscape of retirement saving in the UK and the investment opportunities it contains. Read more Immuno-oncology: a revolution in cancer treatment Simon Clements Simon Clements, investment manager at ATI, examines current developments in cancer treatment where a new therapy is revolutionising our approach to the disease and creating investment opportunities. Read more Bank of England action: the ATI view Views from ATI's key fund managers on the potential impact on major asset classes of last week's Bank of England decision to cut interest rates and increase quantitative easing. Read more Long-term trends in the global automotive industry Mike Appleby Mike Appleby, investment manager explains how big changes in the car industry are informing where we see the best investment prospects in the sector. Read more Renewable energy: opportunities and challenges Mike Appleby Mike Appleby, investment manager on the ATI Sustainable Future fund team, outlines where he sees both the promise and the pitfalls in the renewable energy sector. Read more Investment opportunities in DNA sequencing Simon Clements Simon Clements, investment manager on the ATI Sustainable Future fund team explains how he is capitalising on exciting developments within the DNA sequencing space. Read more Gender equality: an important investment issue Harriet Parker Harriet Parker, investment manager on the ATI Sustainable Future fund team explains how gender equality can improve company performance and boost investment returns. Read more