Gilts: what price should you pay for safety?

Government bond markets have been incredibly volatile compared to history and investors’ expectations. Despite concerns about the fiscal austerity and national debt level, gilts retained their perceived safe haven status with the FTSE UK Gilt All Stock index up more than 15% in the year. In comparison, a number of AAA-rated eurozone government bond markets saw their yields rise as the eurozone sovereign debt crisis and concerns about economic growth dominated market and investor sentiment. Markets initially focused on peripheral eurozone government bonds, such as Greece, Ireland and P...