We finished the first quarter with a market sell-off as the fear of another financial crisis arose due to Silicon Valley Bank going bust. However, these fears were short-lived as we witnessed equities and bonds bounce back. This was led by big growth stocks such as Nvidia and Tesla producing triple digit returns year to date, driven partly by the overly positive sentiment around artificial intelligence.

Both equities and bonds were broadly positive over the quarter, although volatility remained elevated as several headline-grabbing news stories occurred. 

We saw Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) collapse spook investors in March as fears of another banking crisis rose. However, it is clear to see that lessons have been learnt from the financial crisis in 2008. We saw equity markets start to recover as the fear of another banking crisis subsided, and central banks stepped in to protect customers.