September was another difficult month for both equities and bonds alike, as most major markets were down and bond yields moved higher. The notable exception was the FTSE 100, which delivered a healthy positive return. Given the index’s large exposure to oil companies, this should come of little surprise as we saw a spike up in the price of oil to over $90 per barrel. The disproportionate influence energy stocks have on the index can be demonstrated by contrasting the returns to the second tier of the UK stock market, with the FTSE 250 index down 1.5% over the month. Fortunately, investors were insulated in part from the falls in overseas markets by a fall in the value of sterling.