Trevor Greetham: Why 2016 was the best year for multi-asset since 2009

Sterling based investors have just enjoyed the best year for multi asset returns since 2009 - the year of the initial bounce back from the financial crisis. A balanced multi asset fund would have returned something like 12% over the year before charges, with all of the major asset classes showing positive returns over the year. Strong returns are unusual this late into an economic expansion but the two political shocks of the year turned out positively - at least in sterling terms. The aftermath of Brexit saw a big (17%) devaluation in the pound against the US dollar, which raised the...