Donald Trump could spook financial markets in 2016

Nigel Green, the founder and CEO of deVere Group.

Donald Trump could be a major cause of volatility in financial markets throughout the first half of 2016, warns the boss of one of the world’s largest independent financial advisory organisations.

The observation from Nigel Green, the founder and CEO of deVere Group, comes after the U.S. Republican presidential candidate sparked worldwide controversy by announcing he wants to ban Muslims entering the United States.

Mr Green comments: “Trump has been touring studios and appears to be utterly unmoved by the storm of criticism and outrage – in fact he seems to be thriving on it. This suggests we could expect more of this kind of rhetoric from the billionaire would-be president between now and July, when the candidate is announced.

“Clearly, Trump’s comments are important as he is, currently, the frontrunner in the race to be the GOP candidate and, therefore, come November 2016, he could be sitting in the Oval Office as the chief executive of the world’s largest economy.”

He continues: “History teaches us that politically extreme views which have dominance and a spotlight, as Trump’s do, can spook investors and trigger uncertainty in financial markets. This is especially true if it takes place in globally significant economies.

“As such, Donald Trump could be a major cause of volatility in financial markets throughout the first half of 2016.

“Besides the U.S. presidential election and the challenges this presents, the slowdown in China, weak global growth, falling commodity prices and international security threats are amongst the other key factors that are likely to impact and/or alarm global markets next year.”

The deVere CEO concludes: “Most investors already expect 2016 to be an unsettling time for the markets and have assessed and rebalanced their portfolios to take advantage of the potential opportunities and to mitigate the risks.

“But an increasingly outspoken and extreme Donald Trump is making the outlook for at least the first six months of next year more opaque.”