Investment Conundrums: Aegon's Van den Heuvel on why 'Janus-faced' economic outlook means equity upside is limited

Having a diversified portfolio could soften blows in volatile market

The outlook for the global economy is "Janus-faced", according to Aegon Asset Management's CIO Olaf van den Heuvel, who warned that global growth is likely to remain low and equity upside will therefore be "limited".

As such, van den Heuvel urged investors to temper their total return expectations, remain diversified and to maintain exposure to high-quality, income-paying growth stocks among other asset classes. "Over the longer term, equity upside is limited. You can have brilliant investors and brilliant stockpickers, but equity returns will on average be lower than we have seen over the last few years, because total growth is going to be lower," the CIO explained. Speaking at an Aegon Asset Management conference in Holland, the CIO said current economic indicators are contradictory. For exam...