Ruling the world

The traditional approach to investment has been for funds to be allocated along geographic lines. Historically, the greater the degree of regional diversification, the greater the spread of risk and the higher the opportunity to raise overall portfolio returns. It can be argued, however, that investment based on country by country allocation is outdated in a world that has become increasingly global. Long-term trends have seen impediments to trade removed by organisations such as GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) and its successor the WTO (World Trade Organisation), as well as...