QE

Pioneer Investments' head of European fixed income, Tanguy Le Saout, has identified four key fixed income themes for investors to watch in 2014.

Bank of England governor Mark Carney has warned on the complications of withdrawing monetary stimulus - just hours before the US Federal Reserve may announce a tapering of its own asset purchase programme.

All bets are off on when the Federal Reserve may begin tapering, and investors should therefore prepare themselves for a taper as early as this week, said M&G's Anthony Doyle.

Saxo Bank has published a list of ten 'outrageous predictions' which could play out in 2014 and impact global investment markets.

CORPORATE BONDS

Japan's Nikkei fell for a second day overnight, while indices around the world also moved lower, as investors pull money out of the market on fears of imminent tapering by the US Fed.

EQUITY INCOME

Japanese equity markets have soared in the last year, outpacing gains seen across other stock exchanges after a huge QE programme introduced by returning Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, but can the market keep climbing from here?

The US unemployment rate has fallen to a five-year low, increasing the likelihood of a tapering of quantitative easing later this month.

Nicolas Trindade, manager of the AXA Sterling Credit Short Duration Bond fund, has been using in-house resources in a bid to diversify his floating rate note exposure.