Columbia Threadneedle Investments

Last year ended with torrid market returns, and we entered 2019 with global financial conditions tightening sharply. So where does that leave us, and how will we react with regards to the Global Multi Asset Income strategy?

Cloud computing, machine learning and the potential of the, as yet, relatively untapped field of data science have been rapidly rising up the agenda of the investment world. In an industry that is undergoing seismic changes, the capabilities, reach and efficiencies that data science innovation offers have potential to play an important role.

A decade on, banks in some major economies have largely recovered from the global financial crisis (GFC). In others, however, legacies of bad assets continue to clog the banking system, stalling the engine of economic growth. The reasons for this divergence lie largely in the differing approaches governments took to recapitalising their banks after the crisis...

Looking back at 2018, it was a year when European corporate earnings continued to grow, while market volatility was surprisingly high. The volatility was a result of both political noise and the fear of a slowdown in global growth.

It currently feels like we are at a critical juncture for economies and markets. 2019 is likely to be one of elevated uncertainty and more volatility as investors grapple with the question of whether this is the final phase of the economic cycle. Markets will behave accordingly.