2018 – Inflation inflexion risks
US inflation was lacklustre in 2017, despite falling unemployment. This combination was very supportive for equities. In 2018, a key risk is that we see a similar wage pick-up in the US to what we’ve already seen in Central and Eastern Europe, where labour markets are also tight. As a result, we believe there are potential benefits in holding US dollar and US inflation exposure in portfolios to help mitigate the risk of higher interest rates undermining equities and other risk assets.