2012

The first edition of our half-yearly magazine, Equinox, was published. Each edition contains a full investment review and commentary from our investment team, alongside topical articles and editorials. You can find all our previous editions here.

At Equilibrium we have always aimed to make a positive difference to the local community and we were awarded the Community Champion of the Year at the 2012 Cheshire Business Awards.

The year saw us introduce a variety of new community initiatives. We launched a Fantasy Investment League competition with students from Alderley Edge School for Girls taking part. Due to its success we now run the competition annually, giving the opportunity for students from a variety of schools to take part and learn about the investment world. In addition, we also launched our Knutsford Community Hero campaign which recognised people who made a positive difference to their local community.

Key events

• Equilibrium was awarded Community Champion of the Year at the 2012 Cheshire Business Awards.
• The first edition of Equinox was published.
• We launched a variety of new community initiatives to make a positive difference to our local community.

What else happened in this year?

In finance…

• Annual UK Inflation: 2.71% CPI
• Bank base rate: 0.5000% since 2009
• IHT threshold: £325,000 since 2009

In the charts…

• Despite being released in January 2011, Adele’s album 21 moved back up to the top of the UK album charts several times during 2012. By the end of the year it was the 2^nd bestselling album of 2012.
• 2012 was also the year the music world lost the voices of R&B/soul sensations Whitney Houston and Etta James.

On the screen…

• Following the huge success of the The Lord of the Rings trilogy, director Peter Jackson brought Middle Earth to life again with the release of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
• Daniel Craig reprised his role as James Bond in Skyfall, which was the 23^rd Bond film to be released and also marked the film franchise’s 50^th anniversary.

Around the world…

• Aug 25 – Voyager 1 becomes the first spacecraft ever to enter interstellar space. The craft was originally launched in 1977.
• October 14 – Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner jumps out of a helium-filled balloon 24 miles above the earth, becoming the first person to break the sound barrier without any machine assistance, and setting a number of world records for skydiving and speed.

In the UK…

• February 6 – Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her Diamond Jubilee, marking her 60 years on the throne.
• July 22 – Bradley Wiggins becomes the first Briton ever to win the Tour de France
• July 27 – The 2012 Summer Olympic Games commence in London.