Hammered by virus, investors rethink role of bonds, tech and ESG in 2021

This has been a year like no other.

Hammered by an unprecedented health crisis, global stocks tumbled into a bear market at record speed, and then rallied to new highs thanks to a flood of central bank money. Bond yields tanked to uncharted lows and the world’s reserve currency surged to all-time highs, only to then retreat to its weakest level in more than two years as 2020 draws to a close.

Global asset allocators from BlackRock Inc. to JPMorgan Asset Management have outlined their takeaways for investors from the volatile year. Here are some of their reflections:

The massive