As the investment industry returns to their desks after the summer break, it is time to catch up on what has been missed over the past few weeks.
Well, it is fair to say it has been a strange sort of 'quiet' period, with a sense something unwelcome could be lurking just around the corner as volatility remains low and valuations stay at elevated levels.
One area where concerns have been escalating over the summer is the potential for conflict between North Korea and its Asian neighbours or the US, as the war of words between the countries' leaders intensified.
Gosling's Grouse: North Korean tensions
According to Bloomberg, gold has shot up 15% this year, rising in every month except June, and prices then climbed to their highest level in 2017 last week after North Korea fired a missile over Japan.
A number of fund managers will also see some nasty hits to portfolios as they return to work, after a series of profit warnings from some of the UK's largest companies in August sent share prices tumbling.
Following the announcements, shares in sub-prime lender Provident Financial plummeted by nearly 70% on the day, Dixons Carphone shares fell 30%, while WPP shares dropped 11% after a warning of slowing sales.
However, although delivering blows to portfolios, the falls were the result of specific company or sector maladies, rather than pointing to wider issues that should cause alarm.
Meanwhile, with only a few months to go until implementation of MiFID II in January 2018, asset managers have begun finalising their plans, including how they will pay for research.
A number of big and small players have now said they will absorb research costs onto their P&Ls, although it remains to be seen what the longer-term impact will be on customer charges as a result of this decision.
Notably, there were also a number of big manager moves over the summer period including former OMGI equity income manager Stephen Message joining LGIM, Aviva Investors' multi-asset manager Nick Samouilhan jumping ship for T. Rowe Price and Kames Capital's bond duo David Roberts and Phil Milburn moving to Liontrust.
Update: FTSE 100 slumps as gold purchasing soars
The biggest news from the wealth management sector was undoubtedly Rathbones' £2bn all-share merger talks with Smith & Williamson. Although these have now been shelved, consolidation within the sector is clearly set to continue apace in the coming months.
Finally, the industry should welcome the launch of the Restart programme, aimed at all financial or professional services individuals who have taken an extended career break and are now looking to return to the workforce.
