First State's Harman: Why our exposure to equities and corporate credit is at an all-time low

Volatility is a healthy development

This year has seen a return of volatility in financial markets - and we see that as a healthy development.

This has been seen across a number of asset markets, namely government bond yields, equity markets and most recently emerging market currency volatility with a stronger US dollar. Our long-held view is that stronger growth will lead to higher volatility in financial markets, as central banks start to tighten. This view, in combination with high asset valuations, has resulted in the lowest allocation to equities and corporate credit in the history of our Diversified Growth fund.  We exited all corporate bond exposures in Q4 2017 and recently removed our long-held position in Italian...