It’s been eventful in French politics. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu resigned after less than a month in office, becoming President Macron’s fourth prime minister since the snap election in 2024.
Each of Macron’s prime ministers has failed to secure the political support needed to pass a budget that backed cutting France’s deficit.
However, in a surprising move, Macron reappointed Lecornu as prime minister just five days later asking him to form a new government and, to try again to pass a deficit cutting budget for 2026. This move triggered two votes of no confidence against Lecornu from both ends of the political spectrum.
Whether Lecornu and his new government can survive, despite winning the votes of no confidence, and provide a budget cut for 2026 remains uncertain.
He recently announced that he plans on suspending Macron’s unpopular pension reforms until 2027 to help secure support for a 2026 budget. Macron had planned on raising the retirement age from 62 to 64.
The ongoing changes and political instability has understandably unsettled investors.
Japan appoints their first female leader
Sanae Takaichi won the leadership election of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, positioning her to become the country’s first female prime minister—if she secured enough support in parliament.
On 21st October, she succeeded, winning a clear majority in Japan’s parliament, taking the role of Prime Minister of Japan.
The Japanese stock market reacted very positively to this news as they expect Takaichi to be an advocate for fiscal stimulus and loose monetary policy. On Monday, the Japanese stock market reached 50,000 for the first time amid these expectations. However, this optimism is tempered by concerns over inflation, which has slowly been falling since the beginning of the year.
Moving forwards, Takaichi will be working to forge new alliances in hopes of preserving the Liberal Democratic Party’s (LDP) fragile majority. While the LDP’s long time coalition partner, the Komeito party, withdrew their support, the Japan Innovation Party (JIP) lent their votes to confirm her appointment.
The LDP and the JIP will be facing voters in 2028 at the next election.
Trump’s tariff
US President Donald Trump wasted no time after beginning his second term at the start of 2025, swiftly imposing tariffs on some of the country’s closest trading partners.
Trump campaigned on the belief that other nations had taken advantage of the U.S., and that tariffs were a means of restoring jobs and manufacturing, while also generating revenue to fund tax cuts.
The back and forth between the US and multiple trading partners caused global stock market volatility throughout 2025. Between February and the end of April, global stock markets fell by 10.36%, before broadly rebounding again in the coming months.
In August, Trump’s initial “Liberation Day” tariffs took effect for countries that had not yet signed trade agreements. India was hit with additional tariffs for purchasing oil from Russia, and Trump also targeted semiconductor chips not manufactured in the US.
Tariff concerns began to ease as investors adjusted to the new environment. However, Trump reignited tensions by threatening 100% tariffs on China, causing the U.S. market to drop 2.7% in a single day—the largest one-day loss since April. China threatened to retaliate, but Trump ultimately backed down, leading to a partial market rebound.
How have global stock markets performed?
Despite all of this, global stock markets have seen positive results for the 12 months to the end of September. Over the past year, the broader global stock market has risen 17.38%*. As always though, past performance isn’t a guide to future returns.
Over the last 12 months the US stock market, which makes up a large part of the global market, grew 18.04%. The Mexican stock market was one of the best performing regions, returning 32.62%. Their central bank has been cutting interest rates, from a peak of 11.25% down to 7.5% today, which has helped bolster the stock market.
The Indian stock market was one of the worst performing stock markets over the last 12 months falling 11.42%. After recent years of strong performance, investors may be looking for new opportunities elsewhere especially as India is exposed to the uncertainty around US tariffs.
At a sector level, the global technology sector performed best, returning 27.89%. Healthcare stocks lagged the wider market, returning -7.38%.
One-year stock market performance
30/09/2020 To 30/09/2021 | 30/09/2021 To 30/09/2022 | 30/09/2022 To 30/09/2023 | 30/09/2023 To 30/09/2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
MSCI AC World | 22.71% | -3.71% | 11.04% | 20.43% |
MSCI ACWI/Health Care | 13.89% | 7.41% | 1.68% | 10.46% |
MSCI ACWI/Information Technology | 25.24% | -11.12% | 24.65% | 35.30% |
MSCI India | 47.37% | 9.33% | 1.10% | 28.17% |
MSCI Mexico | 45.31% | 12.19% | 22.73% | -11.66% |
MSCI North America | 25.32% | 0.25% | 10.83% | 23.62% |
How have our Wealth Shortlist funds performed?
Global funds on the Wealth Shortlist delivered mixed performance over the past year, with some faring better than others.
A year is a short time to assess the skills of a fund manager though. Managers with different strengths, styles and areas of focus will perform differently over time.
Investing in funds isn't right for everyone. Investors should only invest if the fund's objectives are aligned with their own, and there's a specific need for the type of investment being made. Investors should understand the specific risks of a fund before they invest, and make sure any new investment forms part of a long-term diversified portfolio.
For more details on each fund and its risks, please see the links to their factsheets and key investor information below. All investments fall as well as rise in value, so you could get back less than you invest.
Artemis Global Income
Artemis Global Income was the best-performing fund in the global sector of the Wealth Shortlist over the past 12 months.
Managed by experienced investor Jacob de Tusch-Lec, the fund returned 43.92%* versus 17.38% for the MSCI AC World Index and 10.14% for the average fund in the IA Global Equity Income sector. But remember, past performance isn’t a guide to future returns.
We like de Tusch-Lec’s contrarian approach to investing, but it can lead to the fund investing very differently to its peers.
Our analysis suggests de Tusch-Lec’s stock selection has been the main driver of returns over the past 12 months. In particular, selections in Europe and Japan, as well as investments in financial service and industrial companies, have all been strong performers for the fund.
The fund can invest in smaller companies as well as emerging markets which can increase risk. The manager can also use derivatives which if used increases risk. Charges are taken from capital, which can increase the income paid but reduce the potential for capital growth.
Lazard Global Equity Franchise
Lazard Global Equity Franchise was the weakest performing fund in the global sector of the Wealth Shortlist returning -1.52% over the past 12 months.
The fund has a value style of investing which means it can look very different to the benchmark and other funds. This value style has also been a headwind for much of the last 12 months as funds focussed more on US and technology companies have performed better. This fund typically doesn’t invest as much in these areas because share price valuations are higher and haven’t offered as much future performance potential, in the managers’ view.
However, the fund did perform very well at the beginning of 2025 when the market fell because of US Presidents Donald Trumps tariffs and value stocks outperformed which is what we would expect for this fund.
The fund can invest in smaller companies as well as emerging markets which can increase risk. They also can have a relatively small portfolio. This means each investment can contribute significantly to returns, although this approach increases risk.
30/09/2020 To 30/09/2021 | 30/09/2021 To 30/09/2022 | 30/09/2022 To 30/09/2023 | 30/09/2023 To 30/09/2024 | 30/09/2024 To 30/09/2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Artemis Global Income | 32.81% | 1.53% | 9.05% | 24.94% | 43.92% |
IA Global Equity Income | 22.02% | -0.89% | 9.64% | 15.40% | 10.14% |
Lazard Global Equity Franchise Fund | 32.11% | 7.72% | 12.08% | 8.13% | -1.52% |
IA Global | 23.32% | -8.79% | 7.42% | 16.25% | 11.95% |
MSCI AC World TR | 22.71% | -3.71% | 11.04% | 20.43% | 17.38% |