Every month, financial markets produce thousands of headlines.

Interest rates, inflation, elections, company earnings, recessions, booms and busts all compete for our attention.

For long-term investors, the challenge is not consuming more information. It is understanding what actually matters.

Welcome to The Monthly Compound — my personal recap of what happened in the world of money and investing from the last month, and most importantly, what I am doing about it.

📈 Equities: Global stock markets continued to push higher, supported by strong company earnings and renewed enthusiasm around artificial intelligence. The US market had a particularly strong month, with the S&P 500 gaining around 5% during May. (MarketWatch)

🇺🇸 US shares: The S&P 500 delivered a strong month, with technology companies once again helping drive returns.

🇬🇧 UK shares: The FTSE 100 continued to show resilience, supported by large global companies and more attractive valuations compared with some overseas markets. (St. James’s Place)

🌏 Asia: One of the standout performers was South Korea, with the KOSPI index surging as investors became increasingly optimistic about corporate reforms, technology companies and semiconductor demand.

🏦 Interest rates: Investors continued watching central banks closely, looking for clues on when borrowing costs may finally start to fall.

📉 Inflation: Inflation remained one of the biggest economic talking points. Lower inflation increases the possibility of future interest rate cuts, but central banks remain cautious.

🤖 Theme of the month: Artificial Intelligence continued to dominate markets, with technology companies benefiting from huge investment into AI infrastructure. (Reuters)

May proved to be a positive month for equity investors, with many major global stock markets moving higher. After a period dominated by concerns around inflation, interest rates and economic growth, investor confidence improved as company earnings remained resilient.

The US market was once again a major contributor. The S&P 500 gained around 5% during May, helped by strong corporate earnings and continued enthusiasm surrounding artificial intelligence. Technology companies, particularly those linked to AI infrastructure and semiconductors, remained a significant driver of returns.

However, May was not only a US story. Global equities also performed strongly, with investors benefiting from owning companies across different countries and sectors.

The UK market continued its steady progress, reminding investors that markets often written off as “boring” can still quietly deliver attractive returns.

Asia also provided one of the biggest stories of the month, with South Korea’s KOSPI index surging as investors reacted positively to corporate reform hopes, semiconductor demand and improving sentiment towards Korean companies.

For me, May was another reminder of a simple investing truth:

The next winning stock is obvious after it happens. Rarely before…

This is why I continue to favour owning thousands of companies globally rather than trying to predict which country, sector or theme will lead next.

Interest rates: The Bank of England kept the Base Rate at 3.75% during May, down from the recent peak of 5.25% reached during the inflation-fighting cycle. Markets continued to focus on when further cuts may arrive.

Inflation: UK CPI inflation was 2.8% in April 2026 (the latest data available during May), significantly below the 11.1% peak reached in October 2022, but still above the Bank of England’s long-term 2% target.

Bond yields: Despite interest rate cuts, government bond yields remained elevated compared with the ultra-low rate period after the Global Financial Crisis. During May, the US 10-year Treasury yield traded around 4.5%, while the UK 10-year gilt yield was around 5%, compared with levels close to or below 1% during parts of the post-2008 low-rate era.

May was a positive month for investors, and my own portfolio benefited from the continued strength across global markets. But the most important part of my investing journey this month was not market performance. It was consistency.

Over time I have moved away from trying to find the perfect investment or waiting for the perfect moment. Instead, I focus on controlling what I can control and follow a simple plan:

✓ Regular investment into global equities
✓ Gradually building alternative assets
✓ Maintaining diversification
✓ Keeping costs low
✓ Ignoring short-term market noise

📈 Equities: The foundation of my portfolio. This month, I invested around 50% of my available investment capital into low-cost funds, owning thousands of companies across the world.

🍷 Fine Wine: My alternative investment allocation. This month, around 48% went towards continuing to build my fine wine portfolio.

The aim is not to replace traditional investing, but to gradually add diversification alongside my core equity holdings.

Over the longer term, I am aiming for fine wine to represent approximately 5–7% of my overall portfolio. Although fine wine comes with its own risks, historically it has behaved differently to equities, which may provide additional diversification during periods of market uncertainty.

₿ Bitcoin: A small, higher-risk allocation. I currently invest around 2% of my monthly investment capital into Bitcoin, while keeping it a controlled percentage of my overall portfolio.

💹 Growth: During May my personal portfolio increased by 7.7%, helped by strong global markets and continued contributions. Not bad at all!

While many investors spent May focused on the United States and artificial intelligence, one of the standout markets came from somewhere else entirely.

South Korea’s KOSPI index surged during the month, helped by strong semiconductor demand, improving investor confidence and optimism around corporate reforms aimed at making companies more shareholder friendly.

Growing enthusiasm from domestic investors has also added momentum, with some commentators suggesting renewed interest in Korean equities could continue. However, nobody knows what happens next, which is exactly why diversification matters.

Personally, I gain exposure to South Korea through the Vanguard FTSE Developed Asia Pacific ex-Japan fund. Rather than trying to pick one winning country, I prefer owning a wider range of companies across developed Asian markets.

This gives me exposure to the region without relying on a single country being the winner. I currently keep this allocation at around 10% of my portfolio because regional investments can be more volatile.

My approach is simple: stay globally diversified and make sure I own a piece of the opportunity, wherever it appears next.

One of the biggest temptations in investing is trying to find the next big opportunity, whether that is the next successful company, the next booming market or the next trend everyone will be talking about.

May was another reminder of how difficult this can be. While much of the financial world remained focused on the United States and artificial intelligence, South Korea quietly became one of the standout performing markets.

The challenge is that winners usually look obvious after they have already performed well. Predicting them beforehand is much harder.

This is why diversification is such an important part of my investing approach. Instead of trying to guess which country, company or sector will perform best, I prefer owning thousands of companies across the world.

Some investments will disappoint and others will surprise you. The goal is not to only own the winners, because nobody can consistently predict them. The goal is to make sure you do not miss them.

Build a sensible plan, keep costs low, stay diversified and give time for compounding to do the heavy lifting.

Investing success is rarely about making the perfect decision. It is about consistently making sensible ones.

The Compounder
Long-term investing made simple.