“We had taken a reasonably defensive position at the last rebalancing,” said Rob Gleeson, head of FE research. Whilst we couldn’t have predicted the Chinese market imploding the way it did, we were wary that the gains of the last year were due to reverse at some point as the Chinese economy continued to slow. This decision paid off finally following the major market correction. At this rebalancing we’re putting some risk back on the table; we don’t think that now is the time to be going defensive, the horse has already bolted.”
“While we’re concerned about various headwinds facing most major economies, and remain cautious in general – we have moved to soften our defensive stance,” Gleeson added. Primarily this means further reducing bond exposure in favour of equities where appropriate. This is as much to manage downside risk as to enhance growth potential.”
