Donald Trump has won the race to the White House after taking more than 270 of the US’ 538 electoral college votes, meaning the political outsider will become the country’s 45th president in January. 
The Republican nominee was handed victory after taking a number of key swing states – including Florida, Ohio and North Carolina – that, according to the polls, were looking like they would go to Democrat hopeful Hillary Clinton.
While Clinton represented ‘more of the same’, the real estate tycoon and former reality TV star fought a populist campaign – which was dogged by controversy after several outlandish policy ideas as well as comments about women, Muslims and a “rigged” election – and tapped into a general feeling of dissatisfaction with the current political process.
The uncertainty over what a Trump presidency will actually bring meant that his victory was widely seen as a negative for markets. Indeed, gold has surged while Asian equity markets fell when it became apparent Trump had won).
In the following article, FE Trustnet pulls together the immediate reaction of a number of investment experts on the shock victory of Donald Trump and Republican control of both Houses.
“We are heading into a world of unprecedented political risk”
Dominic Rossi, global chief investment officer for equities at Fidelity International, says the election of Trump could put the world into political risk that has rarely been seen in modern times. 
"We are heading into a world of unprecedented political risk which calls into question the pillars of the post WWII settlement. It’s unsurprising investors are heading for cover. The immediate sense of bewilderment at the shift rightwards in American politics will need to give way to a more sober risk assessment,” Rossi said,
“These known financial risks have been displaced by an unprecedented level of unknown political risks. We can only speculate whether Trump will follow through on his more protectionist slogans with substantive policies. Investors, particularly those overseas, will stand back and wait.
“Republican control of both Houses offers an opportunity to break the political gridlock of recent years in domestic areas of policy. There will be an eagerness to roll back many Obama initiatives, above all Obamacare. But none of this will convince investors in the short term.”
“Buckle up for a bumpy ride”
Nigel Green, founder and chief executive of deVere, warns that global markets are likely to enter a period of intense of volatility as they wait for more clarity on how Trump will enact his more protectionist policies.
“Buckle up for a bumpy ride in the global markets. Whether president Trump will, in fact, do what he has said he will do throughout his campaign, or whether it was just soaring rhetoric to whip up his support base, for now, Trump winning is sending shockwaves across the world. As such, enormous volatility can be expected in the markets,” Green said.
“The Brexit result was a real shock and created instability in the UK. But this is a far bigger deal as this creates instability on a much wider, international scale. The markets’ main concerns include Trump’s protectionist policies, focusing on potential trade wars with China – America’s largest trading partner – and with Mexico, it’s third largest. In addition, with Trump having said certain countries are ‘cheating’ due to their undervalued currencies, currency tensions should also be expected.”
“Much of the old mantra is outdated”
Andrew Merricks , head of investments at Skerritts, says investors should not make too many moves based on what has happened in the short term. However, he argues that Trump’s victory and associated events such as the Brexit result means they should consider how much the world has changed recently.
“The Trump victory is a further indication that the world has indeed changed. From an investment angle this has serious implications as much of the old mantra is outdated. Politicians, policymakers, bankers and economists as a group are of a certain age. They all attended Harvard, Oxford, Yale or similar around the same time, and learned the same theories based upon reality as it existed in the 70s, 80s and 90s. They can not get their heads around the fact that these theories are contemporarily challenged, but that means that you’ve got to admit that you are wrong – something that the above group are not prone to do,” Merricks said.
“Our portfolios have been positioned for a ‘shock’ such as this and we don’t anticipate changing much in the next few weeks. After the Brexit vote we saw a much stronger sell-off in virtually all markets, followed by a quick, sharp rally. We think it would be a big mistake to make too many short term-changes to portfolios based upon initial reactions. We’ve considered all eventualities in the run up to this election and so don’t feel the need to react greatly ourselves to the result.”
“We’ll have to wait and see”
Alastair Irvine, product specialist for the Jupiter Independent Funds team, is mindful of the many uncertainties that surround the president-elect’s plans.
“Following a rancorous campaign that has been long on insults and short on substantive policy, we’ll have to wait and see how a Trump presidency will develop. There are parallels with one of his predecessors, Ronald Reagan: it was Reagan’s appointment of smart people to key positions which eventually produced Reaganomics and defined economic and social policy for a generation. Perhaps Donald Trump will surprise us in the same vein and surround himself with people who can turn his random, shoot-from-the-hip ideas in to something workable? Who knows?” Irvine said.
“In any event there are checks and balances in the US system of government which limit the direct power of the president. But it’ll keep Brexit off the front pages for a while and there are other parts of the world, China and Europe to name two, which I believe are just as important to investors as whatever Mr Trump gets up to next.”
“This is not the major negative that many will try and say that it is”
Tom Becket, chief investment officer at Psigma Investment Management, cautions against overreacting and panicking on the back of this morning’s news and stresses that a measured response is the best strategy for investors. 
“The big news is obviously over the successful campaign of Donald Trump that takes him to the White House and the Republican ‘clean sweep’ of the House of Representatives and Congress. This was not the outcome that most commentators and financial markets were expecting, but this is a scenario that we have prepared our portfolios for, with the view from the outset that Trump’s campaign and broad appeal was underestimated,” Becket said.
“Looking forward further than this week, it appears to us that this is not the major negative for markets and the global economy that many will try and say that it is. It is abundantly clear that change is necessary and that is what the electorates of the UK and US has voted for. We now watch the aforementioned Italian referendum and elections in France and Germany next year with keener interest. Of course, we will have to see the finer details of Trump’s plans and work out how acceptable they will be to the wider Republican party, but this could well end up being a better medium term outcome than the ‘more of the same’ option that Clinton had put forward.”
“Trump isn’t totally insane”
Justin Oliver, deputy chief investment officer at Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management, is another saying that investors should not panic as a Trump presidency could continue positive policies alongside the more negative, headline-grabbing ones.
“Trump isn’t totally insane. Yes, trade wars are more likely – labelling China as a currency manipulator is not going to be helpful – and political certainty has clearly reduced markedly in the past 24 hours,” Oliver said.
“There are longer-term concerns regarding Trump’s economic policies – not least the expectation of significantly increased spending and reduced taxes. This unfunded fiscal stimulus appears to set the US on a worrying path of increased debt accumulation. In the short term, there will likely be an economic simulative effect, which could be viewed as good news. Short-term gain, long-term pain may be an appropriate way of describing this. And this has worrying implications for US Treasury prices.
“Looking past the knee jerk reactions of equity markets, it is possible to make a case for stock markets moving higher for a period – reduced regulation, lower corporate taxes, faster economic growth in the short term are all positive factors fundamentally. And of course, where there is weakness, there are buying opportunities.”
“A short intake of breath, followed by a shrug”
Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, points out that the initial market reaction to Trump’s victory has been less severe than many might have expected. 
“Initial stock market reaction to the Trump victory was a short intake of breath, followed by a shrug. The Japanese market was the biggest faller, shedding around 5 per cent thanks to the appreciation of the yen, with European markets also opening a few per cent lower this morning. However, there has already been a bounce in stock indices, suggesting that even the most powerful office in the world holds only limited sway over global capital markets,” Khalaf said.
“The FTSE 100 was included in the early morning sell-off, but the reaction of the UK stock market was much more muted than in the immediate aftermath of the Brexit vote. The market opened 2 per cent down, but has since staged a recovery to trade a little under yesterday’s closing price, with the FTSE 250 actually bouncing back into positive territory.”
“Today is likely to be perceived as Brexit on stilts”
Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK, agrees that the market reaction has been relatively muted and suggests that Trump’s acceptance speech could be partly behind this.
“If Brexit was a shock to markets, then today is likely to be perceived as Brexit on stilts despite the fact that today’s reaction appears much more orderly, despite sharp falls in the aftermath of the realisation that Hillary Clinton had fallen short of her campaign to win the White House,” Hewson said.
“That the reaction seen thus far appears to have been much more tempered is probably due to the emollient and conciliatory nature of Mr Trump’s acceptance speech, and the fact that there was always that nagging doubt that the pollsters may well be wrong. This has once again proved to be the case begging the question what is the point of opinion pollsters.”
“There is every prospect that the market will overreact”
Richard Stone, chief executive of The Share Centre, says the reality of a Trump presidency could have fewer negative consequences than many investors fear. In particular, many of the more outlandish statements made by the president elect on the campaign trail could well be toned down to become more practical policies.
“Similar to Brexit there is every prospect that the market will overreact. It appears evident that Congress will be controlled by the Republicans. While potentially moderating some of Donald Trump’s more extreme positions, this also means there will not be the same level of stalemate between the president and Congress that there has in the past when they have hailed from different parties. In addition, Donald Trump is above all else, a pragmatic businessman. He has spent his life negotiating and in doing so knows the first statement of your position is not what you expect as the outcome. For example, the idea of a wall between Mexico and the US may sound outrageous, but it appeals to those concerned at the rate of immigration and illegal immigration in particular. In reality there are already over 580 miles of wall and fences along the Mexico/US border and the end position after negotiation may simply be a reinforcing of those existing controls and some additional wall sections to replace fencing sections,” Stone said.
“Over the coming days and months investors will also look to see the extent to which Donald Trump appears more moderate and conciliatory. For example, investors and markets would likely be concerned if Janet Yellen leaves the Federal Reserve early given some of Donald Trump’s rhetoric during the campaign. In short, in the near term markets globally will react to this shock result badly. It was not one the press or commentators outside of the US really saw coming and fears will abound as to the impact on global trade and global economic growth. The shock may be overplayed and the likely impact on the Federal Reserve’s December meeting at which it would probably now be unlikely to raise interest rates may over time help stocks recover the likely short-term losses.”