Philip Saunders, co-head of multi-asset, Investec Asset Management

Our outlook for global growth in 2015 is relatively constructive. We think some of the concerns about economic weakness in the short term are overdone. Although we are not expecting a blisteringly strong global economy in 2015 it should continue to register positive growth in the vicinity of just over 3% internationally, which is very similar to the experience we have had over a number of years. The composition of that growth has shifted. It has moved away from emerging economies, where we have seen weaker growth, towards a stronger US economy, which seems to be firing on a lot of domestic cylinders, including energy. Weakness in China will probably continue, but it is a growth recession and we think that expectations for Europe are excessively negative. 

Arne Hassel, head of investments, Coutts

In the immediate aftermath of the US credit crisis, share prices rose faster than profits. This was followed by a repair phase when Federal Reserve stimulus was at its peak and cost savings, share buybacks and rising dividends were the main drivers of modest annualised total returns of 8% to 9% for US equities. We view the second half of 2014 as the period of transition from policy action to the repair phase in Europe. We expect this phase to continue through 2015, with single-digit total returns driven by a combination of earnings and dividend growth. But with less ability to cut costs, including labour, share buybacks less prevalent and dividends already high in proportion to profits, earnings growth will be the main driver of returns. 

Carl Hammer, currency strategist, SEB

The FX market has traded on well-established themes for a couple of years with respective central bank policy and their bias of future direction being the main influence for foreign exchange. Gone is the focus on fiscal outlook, debt levels and, for the G10, even current account balance. Instead, in the context of global disinflation developments, the countries closer to generating inflation in line with their target will continue to see strong exchange rates while the central banks in easing mode through lower policy rates or quantitative easing should continue to expect weaker currencies. The dollar will continue to outperform all other G10 currencies in 2015 as we expect strong growth and Federal Reserve tightening in the second half of 2015. On the back of additional central bank measures we expect the yen, euro and Swiss franc to continue to depreciate. After we pushed back the first rate hike from the Bank of England until February 2016, the pound is likely to weaken further against the dollar. Norwegian and Swedish currencies will trade within a range against the euro after some near-term weakness. The outlook for commodity currencies, such as Australian and New Zealand dollars, is uncertain. Usually we would expect them to come under pressure as the dollar appreciates. On the other hand they can offer some yield pick-up, which instead could benefit them. Although the Canadian dollar will underperform the US dollar, it should be among the strongest currencies as Canada should benefit from the US recovery. 

Alex Tedder, head of global equities, Schroders

We see 2015 as being characterised by a continuing divergence in global growth that will create attractive pockets of investment opportunity for stock pickers. Given lower energy prices, we believe US consumption has the potential to accelerate, to the benefit of durables and luxury goods-related companies. In Japan and Europe, continuing currency weakness is likely to support those companies with a global footprint. It is worth mentioning that we do not expect the consumption recovery story to be derailed by potential interest rates hikes in 2015. India is the only bright spot in emerging markets in our view – it has an exciting investment story, with exceptional demographics and a vibrant private sector. 

James Lydotes, Boston Company Asset Management

US interest rates may remain lower for longer, perhaps even until 2020. Rising inflation, which would be a prompt for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates, is not expected to come into play, with little sign of wage or commodity inflation to drive it higher. We will keep an eye on this as well as looking for any rhetoric reversal from the European Central Bank. In the meantime, income orientated asset classes in the form of high-quality US equities, global natural resources and infrastructure could offer opportunities. 

Lennox Hartman, global head of fixed income strategies, Aon Hewitt

With an increasingly uncertain outlook for global markets and a persistently low UK base rate constraining gilt yields, the clear message from the fund managers attending our conference this year was that to outperform long-term liabilities, institutional investors will need to look beyond domestic assets for positive returns in 2015. Almost half the fund managers (47%) expected that investment-grade and high-yield credit will deliver the weakest returns during 2015, so unsurprisingly allocations here are projected to decrease over the course of the year. With tight credit spreads and low gilt yields, these asset classes have clearly lost favour among institutional investors.” 

Nitesh Shah, research analyst at ETF Securities

Cyclical assets will give the best investment opportunities in 2015 on the back of the increasing momentum of the global economic recovery. While the recovery will be led by the US and emerging Asia, it will be gradual and not likely to be in a straight line. Numerous risks remain, particularly the growth and deflation threats for the eurozone and Japan, alongside the fading economic momentum in the UK economy. Accordingly, those commodities and currencies poised to benefit from US and Chinese growth are likely to be the main beneficiaries in 2015. Our favoured assets are cyclical commodities such as industrial metals and energy, and the US dollar.