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Hedge Clippings | 20 March 2026 It's been a volatile week for markets, interest rates, and above all, the politics of war. In Australia, the RBA raised rates for the second month in a row after cutting three times last year, including as recently as August. That suggests the Board may have moved too far, too soon on the way down, and there is now a real risk it may be jumping too quickly on the way back up. With inflation still stubborn and global uncertainty rising, and inflation with it, the RBA was clearly stuck between a rock and a hard place, which was reflected in the narrow 5-4 vote in favour of a hike. Hedge Clippings' experts Nick Chaplin and Renny Ellis, who argued against last year's cuts, were equally emphatic this week when we spoke to them that the Board could well have - and should have - held their nerve. With the next meeting only five or six weeks away, there was a strong case for waiting, and allowing February's increase more time to work through the economy, for February's inflation data to land, and for the fallout from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz -- and the likely duration of the conflict -- to become clearer. As Jerome Powell said after this week's Fed meeting when they kept rates steady, "we just don't know what comes next". Fair point. Right now, neither do markets, central banks, nor anyone trying to price risk with a straight face. And for that, investors can once again send a silent thank you (or maybe some other message) in Donald Trump's direction. News | Insights Expert Analysis of the RBA's March 17 Rate Decision | Seed Funds Management & Arculus Funds Management 10k Words | Equitable Investors February 2026 Performance News Bennelong Emerging Companies Fund Glenmore Australian Equities Fund Seed Funds Management Financial Income Fund Insync Global Capital Aware Fund |
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