Analysis

As 2008 rolled into 2009, global investors were still recovering from the most traumatic of years, felt most acutely perhaps in emerging markets.

Global listed infrastructure is well positioned in this environment as the asset class offers investors sustainable growth and inflation protected income streams.

Dividend payers are likely to command a premium in 2010 as dividends and dividend growth are likely to remain muted given continued low payouts from key areas of the market.

The euro area is interesting because the economies of the 16 member states are quite diverse while representing a broad risk spectrum.

All eight funds in the IMA Asia Pacific including Japan sector delivered returns higher than 29% over one year according to Morningstar

As we leave behind what was possibly the most dramatic year on record for the financial markets, what should be the take-outs for 2010?

The economic environment improved steadily throughout 2009.

The UK economy is likely to have shrunk nearly 5% in 2009 yet many UK firms have shown resilient profitability.

Japan's economic recovery has proved to be anaemic in 2009 and it is a great surprise the market has underperformed its Western counterparts and the Asian markets.

Axa Pan Euro High Yield leads way as average fund in peer group gains 5.5% over past year to 1 January