Fitzpatrick, Russell Investments board member and chief investment officer, spoke to Good Returns about the prospects for the fixed income market, and the temptation for advisers to move into higher risk products such as listed real estate and infrastructure, as the low interest environment looks set to continue.

While Fitzpatrick said investments in listed property and infrastructure made sense in multi-asset strategies, he had a word of warning for those considering moving savings away from traditional fixed income products entirely.

He said: “You have to be careful of the overall risk you’re taking on, and your timing in this market, where all global assets have done well and are fairly expensive. Those assets do have a place in a wider multi-asset portfolio, but I’d be a little bit wary of jumping aggressively into some of those areas.”

Fitzpatrick urged caution for those considering individual bond strategies over diversified managed funds. “If there’s a shock in any way, you are down to one issuer. Typically people say the banks are safe, and touch wood that is the case, but you’re putting your life savings on that bet, and that is a risk you could avoid if you move to a diversified approach.”

Fitzpatrick believes actively-managed global fixed income strategies offer the best balance of protection and low-risk returns in the current environment. Russell forecasts a higher chance of a downturn in the equities market in 2021, and believes clients positioned in global fixed income will stand to benefit over the next few years.

"The big picture on global bonds V global equities, we'd see equities having a slightly higher expected return, but quite a pronounced level of extra risk. On a risk adjusted basis, there's the attractiveness for global bonds. 

“We’d say we’re heading into potential challenges for equities, with slower growth. If you’re in an asset class that should perform well in that environment, that’s attractive, and global bonds provide that,” Fitzpatrick added.