Either way, much of the developed world will experience poor growth over the coming years, if not experience a series of recessions or worse. A gloomy forecast indeed.

However, investing is about buying risky future cash-flow streams at the right price. Arguably, much of this gloom is already factored into asset prices. This is why I believe it is critical to engage investment managers that have the skill and mandate to select assets that are likely to give a good reward for risk. And this can change rapidly as the prices of individual assets move.

Chris Condon provides advice to institutional investors and managers.