WHEN Asief Mohamed, the founder and chief investment officer of Aeon Investment Management, walked into his office after the Christmas break, the message that scrolled across his computer screen read: “The future isn’t what it used to be”.
It was an apt welcome to 2016. Within days of markets opening, more than US$2.3trillion was wiped off the value of global stocks, according to Dow Jones. For investors and anyone with a pension fund who believed that 2015 was a minefield, the grim news is that this year looks to be an equally treacherous war zone. “Markets — not just ours, but globally — are likely to remain under pressure this year,” says Mohamed. “Sure, China has fallen, but I think there’s more to come there. In all probability the market direction this year will be down. We’ll see more angst, because I can’t think of any particular reasons why markets should improve.”