2014 review: Which asset class or event surprised you most?

Which asset class or event surprised you most?

Experts from across the industry look back on the most surprising and unexpected events from the past year in investment.

    John Redwood, chairman of the investment committee, Charles Stanley Pan Asset   Oil prices   The biggest surprise was the plunge in the price of oil, as the year seemed likely to be punctuated by more religious and political wars in the Middle East. Most of us rightly expected the world economy to grow by more than 3%, with increased requirements for oil to heat, light, and power the activity. Commodity prices had been weak in the earlier stages of the world recovery, and the large destocking that occurred after the commodity bubble might have run its course. Inst...