Property as a diversifier in volatile times

With the threat of equity market volatility ending investor complacency, the use of property as a diversifier for long-term investing has never been more vital

The wider UK economy may have moved from high inflation and interest rates in the 1970s and 1980s to the so-called "NICE" (non-inflationary consistently expanding) one of today, but market volatility remains ever present. When equity market prices fell by 5% over May 2006, it brought to an end a three-year period of relative calm. Fast forward to February 2007, when prices fell by 4.1% in the last two days of the month, then the 'credit crunch' of July/August 2007. Complacency in the financial markets has dried up. So, in these volatile times, where does property stand? Property as a ...