This week belonged collectively to Science and the Scottish football team. The former because the scientists behind the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine have given us renewed hope that we now have the tools to fightback against COVID-19 and the latter because, after a nail-biting 5-4 sudden death win over Serbia on Thursday night, Scotland's 23-year absence from a major men's football tournament is finally over. The tartan army is heading to the European Championship finals. By contrast, the week was not so memorable for those who believe in the fundamental principles of democracy. At home, the "Cummings" and goings from Downing Street were a rather embarrassing insight into political infighting at the top of government, but the drama at No.10 pales into insignificance when you cast your eyes across the pond. Spurious fraud claims aside, President Trump's refusal to concede the election is only delaying the inevitable, entrenching divisions and, in the words of former President Barack Obama "delegitimising democracy". US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's assertion that there will be a "smooth transition to a second Trump administration" was delivered with an almost admirable absence of irony. The Weekly, like the Chinese, can only look on in mild incredulity. And whilst China has finally congratulated Joe Biden on his election victory having previously only "noticed that Mr Biden had been declared the winner", The Weekly is sparing a thought this weekend for the poor ballot counters in Georgia who are spending their weekend recounting nearly 5 million votes! It feels like the election drama has a little while to run yet!

In the wake of the pandemic, the property investment community has focused its attention on "beds and sheds" in a bid to find secure income streams and diversification in a time of uncertainty. "Sheds" (by which we mean manufacturing and logistics warehouses rather than somewhere to store the lawnmower) have a long history of mainstream institutional investment. By contrast, investing in operational residential (simplified to "Beds") was long considered alternative. Savills Global Living 2020 Report released this week highlighted just how quickly things are changing. Investment into operational residential real estate (which includes sectors such as multi-family, co-living, student accommodation and senior living) reached an all-time high in 2019. And perhaps more revealingly, Operational Residential accounted for 27% of all global real estate investment in the first three quarters of 2020, up from just 16% a decade ago. The "beds" strategy is appealing because the sector’s fundamentals hold true even in an economy facing unprecedented lockdown restrictions. People still require a place to live, and demographic trends and affordability constraints will continue to drive demand for rental accommodation. Perhaps it is no wonder then that there has been a 60% increase in the dry powder targeting the residential sector. Watch this space.

The concept of a "lazy Sunday afternoon" takes on a slightly different meaning during lockdown, especially when its raining and the prospect of a damp walk around the local park is less than enticing! From 3pm this afternoon, however, you really do have a genuine excuse to put your feet up on the sofa and immerse yourself in one of sport's great annual spectacles, the US Masters golf at Augusta. The pre-tournament hype was all about one man, Bryson DeChambeau, who spent lockdown undergoing an incredible physical transformation in a bid to out-drive, and out-muscle, the competition. DeChambeau's approach is extreme - his protein intake is nearly double that of other professional athletes - but there is no denying the results. With an average driving distance of almost 350 yards, DeChambeau can now gain multiple shots per round on his opponents and is doing his level best to invert the game's ancient truism that "it is better to be straight than to be long." Before the tournament, DeChambeau even made the bold (and in hindsight rather presumptuous) claim that he thought the par-72 course was a par 67 for him, because of the prodigious distance he hits the ball. But, as he waited in the Clubhouse on Saturday to see whether he'd make the cut after a wayward two-over-par 74 in his second round, DeChambeau must have wanted to eat his words (alongside a high-protein slice of humble pie). Former runner-up Greg Norman's commentary summed it up perfectly; "When you go out there and say that verbally, the golfing gods hear that in the pine trees at Augusta". The question we all want to know is, who will the golfing gods be smiling down on later this evening?