We live in an information age. Our minds are constantly bombarded by such a deluge of facts and figures that it’s increasingly hard to keep track.

An important skill for successful investing is to narrow your focus to only the most salient data and news flow. This can help you to make informed decisions while still maintaining a level of clarity.

However, working out what matters and what doesn’t is difficult right now as there’s so much going on which could influence markets and valuations.

As Berenberg analysts Jonathan Stubbs and Edward Abbott observe: ‘We cannot remember a period in modern history when the range and spread of factors and forces simultaneously affecting financial markets was so extended.

‘Fund managers need to track multiple (and significant) political, geopolitical, macro, policy and social dynamics; everything, everywhere at the same time.

‘The world has quickly become shrouded in complexity; this is also making it difficult for investors to find conviction.

‘We often cite three core areas which make conviction hard to find: 1) inflation risk, 2) the Russia/Ukraine conflict, 3) government Covid-19/health policies. Where will each of these be in three, six, nine, 12 months’ time?’

This argument is backed up by the performance of the markets. Having hit lows below 7,600 in mid-June, from more than 9,700 at the start of 2022, the MSCI World index of developed markets has been stuck in a tight range between 7,700 and 7,900 ever since.

In an environment where everything is so uncertain it feels like a rational decision to sit on your hands.

The best ordinary investors can do, assuming time is on their side, is to take a long-term perspective and hold true to the principle that, however bleak things seem right now, a recovery is almost always around the corner.

And you don’t want to miss out when said recovery comes by selling when the outlook is at its blackest.

That doesn’t mean you should lose sight of long-term shifts which could impact the way different shares are valued by the market.

Berenberg’s Stubbs and Abbott observe: ‘Globalisation has been a key mega-trend since the 1980s. However, as measured by global trade/GDP, globalisation has stalled and gone into reverse since the 2008-09 global financial crisis.

‘In 2022, there is fresh support for further deglobalisation with the extending Russia/Ukraine conflict and with the evolving relationships between G7 countries, NATO and China.’

We recently looked at the topic of globalisation and Shares will continue to keep tabs on some of the longer running themes which may have got lost amid a wall of noise on everything from interest rates and inflation to conflict and disease.

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