Returns? Investors are looking in all the wrong places

Five years on and the financial crisis shows no sign of ending. But many investors, understandably fearing the prospect of further shocks, are looking in all the wrong places, says Tim Price, investment director at PFP Wealth Management.

The critical problem of our time remains one of too much debt. There is more debt in the world than can ever realistically be serviced, let alone paid back in full. The western economies have gone conclusively ex-growth, and austerity is now sitting uncomfortably with an electorate across Europe used to entitlement and that shows no special enthusiasm for higher taxes and lower government spending. Thanks to the absurdity of the benchmarks involved, institutional fund managers and pension schemes have crowded into objectively one of the most unattractive and risky assets out there: UK...