The textbook view of markets comprising either defensive or cyclical stocks has been turned upside down due to current valuations, in the view of Rob Morgan, pension and investments analyst at Charles Stanley Direct.
Barclays Wealth and Investment Management believes a stock market setback is long overdue and has been adding further to its cash positions.
Albert Edwards, strategist at Societe Generale, continues to believe in his Ice Age thesis [a period of low inflation and near deflation], and argues investors should be moving to an overweight position in bonds.
Schroders Joanna Shatney said the biggest threat facing her next year was that of an external monetary policy mistake, with the proximity and importance of the election in Q3 likely to dampen the threat of any domestic political manoeuvring.
The UK is poised to sit among the fastest growing economies of the developed markets in 2014, according to Investec Wealth & Investment.
Chelsea Financial Services Darius McDermott has said capital preservation and diversification will be crucial for weathering the unknown quantities of next year and with no clear winners set to emerge, it was time to reconsider absolute return funds.
Investors in Indian property are in for a tougher time next year as rising interest rates take hold of the asset class, according to a recent research note from Citi.
Global private investors look set to increase their share of bonds issued by Turkey, Brazil, Mexico, India and Poland if recent investment patterns continue, according to latest investment research by Axa Investment Managers.
China’s investment case is simply not stacking up as high-end European manufacturers remain the best way of exploiting the country’s solid growth trajectory, according to Haig Bathgate, Turcan Connell’s chief investment officer.
Threadneedle has pared back its commodities exposure reflecting low inflationary pressures and an inevitable reduction in QE.
Troys Sebastian Lyon has warned that central banks are sowing the seeds of the next crisis in not allowing markets to function properly in his interim statement for Personal Assets Trust.
Newton’s Global Higher Income team has questioned the validity of the economic recovery and believes that “escape velocity” is still some way off.
