M&G's Andrew: Yellen's 'do no harm' policy will not be good enough for Powell's Federal Reserve

Issue of 'self-doubt' and over-valued bonds

2017 was a transitional year: for the first time since the global financial crisis, investor sentiment began a gradual - though seismic - shift away from fear towards optimism, writes Steven Andrew, multi-asset fund manager of the M&G Episode Income fund.

This seems likely to continue throughout this year. But such a shift is rarely undertaken without the occasional misstep and reversal.   With a new batch of uncertainties awaiting investors - among them the change of leadership at the Federal Reserve, incipient inflation fears, and the potential for substantially higher interest rates - 2018 looks like it will be a very different year for financial markets.  After the relative calm of asset prices last year, the environment in 2018 is already considerably different to that of 2017. The volatility of recent days may be something inv...