“The portfolio shifts reflect demographic pressures in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the rise of emerging market investors. These are structural changes in the supply and demand for financial assets, rather than a worrying leading indicator about the economic and market outlook.”
Bonds themselves have a number of fundamental factors on which they can be assessed for inclusion in a portfolio, but in terms of the macro factors that can influence how much value they can provide, it seems the picture remains mixed as we move towards the end of 2014.
Nyree Stewart is features editor at Investment Adviser
Key figures
212%: Global debt-to-GDP ratio in 2013
38: The number of percentage points the global debt-to-GDP ratio has increased since 2008
0.05%: European Central Bank’s interest rate at its lowest level
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