Balance Briefing: February 2026
Recent market movements and long-term considerations
Recent weeks have seen notable developments: strong equity markets, record gold prices, and growing discussion of UK interest rates.
In this month’s Balance Briefing, Financial Planner Jorge Jackson explains what’s been driving these movements, why they matter in a longer-term context, and what they highlight about building wealth through different market conditions.
Inside this month's update
This short 4-minute video explores recent market performance, including global equities, gold, and inflation, and explains why different assets behave differently at times.
If you’re interested in understanding how wealth is built steadily through changing conditions, this briefing offers a helpful place to start.
Key points from this month
Strong markets play a role — but they’re only part of the journey
Periods of positive performance help lift long-term returns, but they sit alongside more challenging phases that planning needs to account for.
Different assets behave differently over time
Gold’s recent performance highlights how individual assets can move for very different reasons. Diversification helps reduce reliance on any single outcome
Structure supports long-term confidence
Separating short-term needs from longer-term investments and spreading risk across regions and asset types helps create flexibility as conditions change.
Long-term financial progress is rarely about finding the right moment. More often, it comes from building a structure that can support a wide range of outcomes, both favourable and more challenging.
If you’d like to explore this further, we’ve shared more thoughts on the cost of waiting and why earlier insight can create more flexibility over time.
Thinking things through
Change often prompts reflection. A clear plan helps turn that reflection into confident decisions.
If you're exploring what a thoughtful plan might look like for you, a clarity call offers a simple way to talk things through.
Please note: This update is not financial advice and is provided for information only. You should not take any action before speaking to a Financial Planner, who will confirm what suits you. Past performance is no guarantee of what will happen in the future.