Multi-asset: Assessing the alternatives to so-called 'strategic' bond funds

Investors have been allocating to equities on a global basis for many years. The benefits of such an approach are widely understood and exposure to global stock markets is now commonplace. Fixed income, on the other hand, has often been treated as a more domestic-based investment. As a UK investor, a common strategy might involve moving between gilts, investment grade corporate debt and high yield at different stages of the economic cycle or as market sentiment shifts. At the margins, portfolios may have overseas government bond exposure and, more recently, emerging market debt has be...