Angela Merkel's government is the latest to back the US Federal Reserve's withdrawal of monetary stimulus despite continuing emerging market turmoil, reports have suggested.
The Bank of England will not hike interest rates until well in to 2015 at the earliest, according to Hawksmoor Investment Management's head of research, Jim Wood-Smith.
Fixed income managers are cutting back on duration after the risk-off environment seen at the start of 2014 pushed up government bond prices once again.
Jupiter CIO John Chatfeild-Roberts has said he will seek to invest more of his £9bn Merlin multi-manager range in funds with overseas assets if sterling maintains its upwards trend.
After a year of stellar returns from Japan, investors are concerned the Japanese equity funds that beat competitors in 2013 will not be able to deliver again this year.