2020 will certainly go down in history as a momentous year, with the tragedy that is Covid-19, the painful global downturn that has ensued, the major curbs on personal freedom and the end of one of the most divisive presidencies in the US, carrying the headlines. What will almost certainly be a forgotten as a footnote to the year is the fact that it is looking likely global equities will finish the year slightly up on where they started it.

In most industrial settings, health-and-safety rules demand that appropriate protective gear be worn, including the donning of ear defenders in high decibel environments. Yet, when it comes to our investing health and safety, we have little by the way of regulatory guidance except the obligatory phrase ‘Past performance is no guide to future performance’ to protect ourselves from the noise of market outcomes, particularly when investing without the guidance of an adviser.

At times like this, it is sometimes worth reminding ourselves that it is this very uncertainty of shorter-term market outcomes that delivers investors with returns above those of placing bank deposits. 10 things to remember during markets fall.

In the modern era, we have far greater access to world news at just the click of a button, or from flash news alerts on our phones. This is not always a good thing as newspapers and websites publish news stories that will attract readers. It can be all too easy to focus on these stories and get gloomy, disheartened or uncomfortable about the reported danger to life, society or wealth of these threats, the latest being the coronavirus.

For some, waking up to the large Tory majority this morning will be a relief, avoiding the higher taxes for both companies and the better off, and a deeply socialist agenda. Others will feel bitterly disappointed that the seemingly last chance to avoid leaving the EU has probably gone. Whatever your political hue, we are where we are.

Persistently skilled fund managers are a very rare commodity, hard to identify in advance and hard to live with over time. Anecdotes and examples of great managers are often used to justify active management, yet even some of the truly ‘great’ managers have failed to live up to their billing. Like the laws of physics, where many big stars eventually reach their evolutionary end in a supernova, the rules of efficient markets, the zero-sum game where losers must fund winners, investment costs and poor investor behaviour have a similar impact on those labelled as ‘star’ managers. Here are some examples of fading stars.