Building a robust portfolio - Five investment strategies that will protect your wealth if market volatility keeps rising

Of all the risks facing markets at the start of 2015, the one that is most damaging to Australian investors is a fear of a China hard landing. This risk has the potential to hit Australian equities and property, lower GDP and therefore keep interest rates on deposits even lower for longer.

Since June the world has become increasing worried about the outlook for China, firstly when Chinese equity markets fell sharply, and then when the Chinese central bank devalued their currency unexpectedly. World markets took this as a lack of confidence from the Chinese government itself, and reacted sharply causing a correction on Wall Street that also drove Australian equities lower.

Craig will explain the five biggest risks facing Australian investors’ portfolios given the current global environment. More importantly, he will talk about what asset classes will be most exposed in each of these risk scenarios and what investment strategies could be employed to prepare your portfolio.

Craig Swanger - Senior Economist

Craig joined FIIG in August 2013 as Head of Markets with more than 19 years’ experience across financial and consulting industries. In November 2014 he moved to the role of ‘thought leadership’ with a mandate to broaden the discussion and understanding of the fixed income asset class in Australia.

Prior to joining FIIG Craig had a 15 year career at Macquarie Bank where his roles included Head of Macquarie Global Investments, CEO of Macquarie Agricultural Funds Management and most recently Chief Investment Officer and Head of Innovation. Craig also spent time at Coopers & Lybrand Consulting and KPMG.