Rathbones' Coombs: Why we are protecting funds against another stockmarket freefall

Preparing for all scenarios key to protection, manager argues

Stockmarkets are not pricing in an extension of a global lockdown beyond Q3 or a potential 'second wave' of a coronavirus outbreak, according to Rathbone Investment Management's David Coombs, who warned stockmarkets could plunge below their mid-March lows despite a recent bounceback.

Coombs, who runs Rathbones' range of multi-asset portfolios, said there are three key scenarios the world could find itself in - all of which are equally weighted in terms of probability, but two of which will have negative outcomes for the global economy. Ardevora's Lang: The global economy has evolved into a fragile system "One scenario is the lockdowns have to continue for much longer and beyond Q3 this year, which is not factored into markets at the moment in my view," he explained. "Scenario two is that we come out of lockdown globally, the virus comes back and we lock down ag...