U.S. Politics Is the Top Concern for Investors in 2019

U.S. politics is the number one concern for investors in 2019, with over a third of Charles Schwab investors citing this as their top worry. Halfway into this year, politics in D.C. rose by six percentage points year-over-year as a topline investor issue. Many other considerations Schwab clients had at the forefront of their mind stayed stable over the past year, barely budging above the 10 percent mark.

The U.S.-China trade war is causing long-term concern, stressing international and national fiscal systems. The IMF lowered its growth forecasts and the Federal Reserve recently cut interest rates in response to slowing growth. When cutting rates and lowering those forecasts, both institutions pointed to the direct and indirect effects of cooling trade relations between the world’s two largest economies as reasons for taking their respective actions.