Alternatives: Which assets should investors favour in 2019?

Demand for asset class will likely increase

More defensive and lowly-correlated assets should become increasingly popular as we head into 2019, according to investment professionals, as lower returns and increasing volatility from mainstream equities and bonds looks likely.

A choppy 2018 saw a 14.34% difference between the MSCI All Country World index's highest point (9.02%) and lowest point (-6.61%) over the year. The FTSE Global Government Bond All Maturities index has also been volatile, having reached a high of 4.83% and a low of -3.38%, marking an uncharacteristically large performance gap of 7.89% (data correct as of 10 December 2018). This level of volatility and market uncertainty was likely the result of macroeconomic and geopolitical shocks throughout the year, including trade wars, Brexit and the tapering of ultra-loose monetary policy. Sentim...