Architas' Rock: Anticipating market swings has rarely been more difficult

MULTI-ASSET

Caspar Rock, chief investment officer at Architas, takes a closer look at why diversification will always be the key to beating volatility.

Since the financial crisis, with authorities trying to carve out paths to recovery, markets have been subject to aggressive policy intervention and dramatic fluctuations in value. With global economies already fragile, the impact has been acutely felt. Anticipating market swings has rarely been more challenging and portfolio managers are faced with a difficult task. Making matters worse, investors are increasingly concerned with the ‘bumpiness' of their investment journey - in other words, the volatility or standard deviation of the portfolio's returns - as well as the returns themsel...