Markets may have “despaired too soon” in December, argues John Butters, chief investment officer at Weatherbys Private Bank.

"The dark skies over the market in late December were not the heralds of perpetual winter but merely the tail end of an ordinary storm," Mr Butters says.

Since then, global markets have generally risen strongly and the global index has exceeded its previous all-time high.

However, as a firm Weatherbys still advocates a reasonable amount of caution. Rather than recommending hedge funds or a single tracker fund, they favour portfolios that mix equities and bonds to achieve “an accept...