Bond market volatility to remain elevated

2017 could see another rollercoaster ride for bonds according to Schroders head of global macro strategy, Bob Jolley.

In his outlook for 2017, Jolley commented that 2016 had seen record levels of negative yields on government bonds, particularly on Swiss government bonds. As a result, governments are now placing greater weight on fiscal policy, rather than relying purely on central bank policies such as quantitative easing. Jolley added: “The world remains far from fixed and considerable uncertainties remain. These include what the UK government’s strategy is on Brexit, a high degree of uncertainty about just how far the rise in populism will run in Europe, and most recently what exactly President-elect Trump’s plans are for his trading relationship with the rest of the world.”

He added that the rise of populism in 2016 has added urgency to the need to find a policy mix which does not accentuate the wealth divide as much as QE has.