“Managing a portfolio always comes down to stock-picking and asset allocation. This column is dedicated to the former. But, more than ever, both are closely linked to each other. Thus, conservativeness is a common feature to every fund in the portfolio. This can be simply reached by pure money market, without any credit risk, or it can be reached by hedging the portfolio against the inflation. On the equity side, conservative strategies as well as visible growth strategies must be favoured. The most battered sectors and themes are, at some point, becoming bargains (eg energy stocks).”