Analysis

It appears memories of the fateful events of 12 months ago have faded fast. Consumer confidence is improving, some major economies have started to recover, and some banks are paying big bonuses again. It is as if we have awoken after a bad dream.

Newly-launched IMA Absolute Return sector reaps rewards from market slide, with 23 of 26 funds achieving positive returns

There has been a lot of interest in corporate bond funds this year as investors have sought to make their cash work harder against a backdrop of low policy rates.

Six months ago, the prospect of a collapse of the global financial system appeared alarmingly plausible.

In a post-Great Moderation world, changes in the real economy have become a much bigger contributor to market volatility. Since March, this has worked in favour of investors as the global recession has shown signs of ending more quickly than first expected....

So, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is gone. The dominant party in Japanese politics since its founding in 1955 was humiliated in the recent Lower House election, and faces the prospect of a sustained period out of power for the first time in its history....

British investors are currently battling between two conflicting forces.

Markets are more than 90% higher than the low levels seen in March this year, which almost re-tested the lows of October 2008.

Notwithstanding the rallies that many markets have experienced over recent months, the current environment continues to offer a range of opportunities to multi-asset managers.

Despite ever-changing trends, the investment company sector has flourished over the past 141 years because of one fundamental attribute - the ability to adapt to change