As we delve into the February reporting season, investor focus shifts to company profits and identifies sectors and companies anticipating earnings growth. This period can be marked by volatility in share prices, contingent upon whether companies exceed or fall short of expectations.

As we kick off another year of investing, I thought I would offer a couple of predictions. They come thick and fast at this time of year, so rely on them as you might dental floss for security when rock climbing. My first prediction is that you are going to hear a lot more this year about private credit.

Despite wars in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip, and the collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank in March 2023, the Magnificent Seven (Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla) rose by an average 111 per cent over calendar 2023. This greatly assisted the performance of the US-based Nasdaq, up 43. 4 per cent for the year.