Partner insight: 'Income is going to be harder to find and we're going to have to look harder for it'

Multi-asset investors are increasingly looking to alternative investments to provide defensiveness, says Henk-Jan Rikkerink

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Partner insight: 'Income is going to be harder to find and we're going to have to look harder for it'

With inflation levels high and interest rate increases on the horizon, investors are already considering their strategies.

Yet there is change coming over the longer term, too. Henk-Jan Rikkerink, Global Head of Solutions and Multi-Asset at Fidelity International, believes we are not only likely to see persistently higher levels of volatility over the next 10 years or so, but also lower returns.

"Despite some of the recent moves in markets, income is hard to find, it's going to be harder to find and we're going to have to look harder for it," he says. "At the same time, there's a greater need for income as more and more people head into retirement."

Rikkerink particularly highlights the need to evolve the defensive elements of these portfolios, adding more diverse building blocks and non-traditional assets.

"The notion that fixed income gives you defensiveness is under challenge," he says. "Whether it is alternative investment or private markets - the assets that go beyond simple equities and fixed income - you will need them to hit the client returns of the future."

Increasingly investors are looking to products such as commodities, gold and Chinese government bonds. For strategies that use private markets, greater attention is being paid to areas such as real estate and the use of private debt.

 

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