balanced fund quarterly report
June 30, 2025
Economic Commentary
Geo-political tensions escalated at the end of the second quarter as the on-going conflict between Israel and Iran worsened. Concerns over Iran’s nuclear program prompted Israel to launch a series of strikes against Iran’s nuclear, military and other strategic assets. This prompted retaliation on the part of Iran as it proceeded to attack Israeli citizens with long-range missiles and explosive drones. The U.S. subsequently got involved and bombed three nuclear sites in Iran. A temporary ceasefire was agreed to in late June. In addition to the re-emergence of this conflict, the Russia/Ukraine war continues, adding further uncertainty to the global geo-political environment.
U.S. President Trump followed through with his proposed global tariff announcement on April 2, which he deemed as Liberation Day. Massive tariffs were announced across the board on goods imported into the U.S. from countries around the world. This caused major disruption in global financial markets, given the potential negative impact that these tariffs would have on both economic activity and inflationary pressures moving forward. Despite warning financial markets that there would be a little short-term pain as a result of these tariffs, Trump re-iterated the need for the U.S. to move forward with his plan.
