By Ed Raymond, head of portfolio management UK at Julius Baer International

When reflecting on a year as it draws to a close, investors naturally look at what they’ve held in their portfolio and how it has done.

At this time of year, we too are drawn to scrutinising in great detail each and every asset we have held and analysing its performance. We also sit down to think about the year ahead and beyond, how we see the future unfolding (as far as we can) and what assets we should be holding.

Whilst this is the rigorous process we go through on a daily basis, to take stock of the longer term trends in...