The increasing importance of asset allocation

Suddenly, everyone wants to talk asset allocation: investment managers, policymakers and, not least,...

Suddenly, everyone wants to talk asset allocation: investment managers, policymakers and, not least, advisers. It has come into focus because a variety of investment, commercial and regulatory factors have pushed this subject firmly into the spotlight. Investment managers are waking up to the fact that recent years may not be easily dismissed as a 'blip'. Bonds have outperformed equities, the FTSE All-Share yields more than gilts, fixed-income is no longer positively correlated with equities. Fundamental relationships between asset classes have shifted. Asset allocation is also at th...