Outlook

The forecast-defying strength of the US economy has been one of the key drivers of financial markets in recent quarters, but as economic prospects diverge, Europe is where we see the better relative value in fixed income today.

The global financial crisis was a seismic shock to banking systems globally, and triggered a regulatory marathon with banks having to adapt to a far stricter set of rules (known as Basel III) set out by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS).

Twelve months ago, as we wrote our annual review and forecast for 2019, backing 10-year German government bonds that were yielding just 0.24% at the time to perform would have been a brave call.