15/09/2020
Over the past 30 years, a ‘60/40’ portfolio has delivered strong risk-adjusted returns. However, after interest rates were cut to almost 0% in response to COVID-19, UK Gilts yield 0.2% whilst US Treasuries yield a slightly less miserly 0.7%. If US yields were to fall to 0% investors may get a capital return of 7% or so but what then? During the COVID-19 sell-off, German and Japanese government bonds, which yield -0.5% and 0.1% respectively, were flat.
One of the most frequent questions multi-asset investors get asked is can bonds continue to offer the diversification benefits upon which traditional equity-bond portfolios are founded?