Markets have reacted favourably to the ECB’s bond buying scheme and investors are taking on more risk, but China’s slowdown is worrying

Rather than dealing in asset classes, investors should be thinking in terms of categories of risk to protect their portfolios

The huge number of European equity funds on offer provides plenty of opportunities, but fund selectors need to be aware of managers’ preferences for their home nation

Worries over the eurozone remain, but European equities are attractively priced, while many of the continent’s large cap companies are well-positioned to make major inroads into emerging Asia

Low risk equities tend to outperform their racier counterparts over the long-term and provide portfolios with much less volatility, thanks to human behaviour

The world’s wealth institutions are planning to increase their allocations to equities, with Asian and Latin American markets looking especially attractive

While stockmarkets in China and Hong Kong fell significantly during 2011, few have lost faith in the long-term Asian growth story

Western institutions are queuing up to invest in Russian equities, believing them undervalued, but local entrepreneurs are much more sceptical about the risks involved