Bulls against bears

Fund managers in the IMA UK All Companies sector are itching to claw back returns they have given up during the current economic downturn. Of late, the managers seem to have turned cautiously optimistic. This move has helped their performance immensely over the very short term as markets have rallied strongly since early March; it has also improved their otherwise dire medium- and long-term returns to April 2009. But what should investors make of this? Can they expect an end to the incessant losses incurred over the past couple of years? There is no doubt the synchronised freefall in global...