2015 provided another example of how dynamic and rapidly changing our world is. Significant events included the highest job growth since 1999, two downgrades to the global economy, the Federal Reserve raising interest rates for the first time since 2006, Russia getting directly involved in the Syrian conflict, which pushed the immigrant crisis to levels not seen since WWII, and a dramatic rise and fall of the Chinese stock market. Despite all these events, 2015 provided quite unremarkable investment returns. US markets were slightly up, European markets slightly down, global real estate and global bonds slightly up and emerging markets down double digits. Volatility is back as markets try to digest the impact of these events and we expect that to continue through 2016.
