Protecting portfolios against the crisis: Instruments of 'mass diversification'

The benefits of a broader approach to portfolio management

In a world where Covid-19 is tearing through stockmarket valuations, IPO returns are floundering, developed and emerging markets are diverging, and US Treasury yields are collapsing, the risk of being overexposed to one area of the market has become stark.

Harbingers of doom will say these are all signs of an imminent, global recession. Regardless of whether this is indeed the case, the importance of portfolio diversification has once again become strikingly clear. A world of change Even before the coronavirus effect there have been several significant disruptions to markets of late. After being seen as a path to guaranteed riches for so many years, the power of IPOs has been challenged. One high profile example is co-working company WeWork, which faced intense scrutiny over its path to profitability and its leadership after publicly ...