What to do when traditional diversification doesn't work | Pendal Group
Hi there! Welcome to the new look Pendal website... Take a two minute tour to see what we’ve changed.

Mainstream Online Web Portal

Investors can view their accounts online via a secure web portal. After registering, you can access your account balances, periodical statements, tax statements, transaction histories and distribution statements / details.
Advisers will also have access to view their clients’ accounts online via the secure web portal.

What to do when traditional diversification doesn’t work

When equities and bonds sell off at the same time — as has occurred this year — investors need to reconsider portfolio construction norms, says Pendal’s MICHAEL BLAYNEY

  • Inflation, rates and the Ukraine war are changing the norms of investing
  • Equities and bonds both in negative territory this year
  • Alternative assets, commodities provide opportunities

INFLATION, the prospect of higher interest rates and the war in Ukraine have altered the investment landscape this year.

“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a human tragedy first and foremost,” says Michael Blayney, Pendal’s Head of Multi-Asset.

“We haven’t seen a major war of this nature in our lifetimes. Many are also struggling to come to terms with how to think about it from a market perspective.”

“We went into the war already experiencing high inflation, and the war adds to those pressures.

“Also, central banks around the world had already thrown a lot of stimuli at economies, because of COVID.”

“We’ve ended up with the situation of central banks needing to tighten in a period of geopolitical uncertainty, and that’s a challenge for portfolio construction.”

Find out about

Pendal Multi-Asset Funds

Government bonds and equities, in Australia and overseas, have fallen in value this year. But the Australian dollar has appreciated, contrary to normal practice in times of crisis when the local currency tends to fall against the greenback.

“The world is a much more difficult place to find diversification and that’s really the theme of the year,” Blayney says. “Normal ways of diversifying aren’t really working at present.”

The critical reason the rules of the past two decades aren’t applying is inflation.

“When you get higher inflation, you tend to see bonds and equities correlate a bit more positively. It means investors need to think about other sources of diversification in portfolios,” Blayney says.

Getting exposure to commodities has been a successful diversification strategy, Blayney says, as has being active in your asset allocation to try and control risk.

“If you are going to move on market conditions, you need to be quite nimble,” Blayney adds.

Pendal’s diversified funds had been overweight growth assets for much of the last couple of years, but have pulled back in the last few months. Pendal’s diversified portfolios are now underweight both bonds and equities.

Sustainable and 
Responsible Investments 

Fund Manager of the Year

“That doesn’t mean you want to be underweight forever. There will come a point when it makes sense to reweight towards bonds in the portfolio.

“When there’s an inflation shock, bonds generally feel the heat and then as things settle down, bonds can become a great buying opportunity. Same for equities. We are not there yet but it’s important to keep it in mind.”

Blayney adds that within sectors and geographies there are buying opportunities, hence the need to be active.

“For example, right now Australian equities have better valuations and are a bit more of a safe haven.

“Looking globally there are expensive assets, there are fairly valued assets and there are also some undervalued markets.”

Corporate debt can also provide opportunities with spreads in the US – the difference between yields on a government bond and a corporate bond – around 1.4 per cent. And Blayney says holding funds in cash to take advantage of opportunities is important.

“Our funds have been running a little more in alternative assets than usual, which includes some listed renewables and risk parity and target return strategies that are able to provide alternative sources of returns.

“The alternative asset portfolios have done a really good job of supporting total portfolio returns at a time when equities and bonds haven’t been great.”


About Pendal’s multi-asset capabilities

Pendal’s diversified funds provide investors with a variety of traditional and alternative asset classes and strategies.

These include Australian and international shares, property securities, fixed interest, cash investments and alternatives.

In March 2024, Perpetual Group brought together the Pendal and Perpetual multi-asset teams under the leadership of Michael O’Dea.

The newly expanded nine-strong team will manage more than $6 billion in AUM and create a platform with the scale and resources to deliver leading multi-asset solutions for clients.  

Michael is a highly experienced investor with more than 23 years industry experience, including almost a decade leading the team at Perpetual.

Find out more about Pendal’s multi asset funds:

Contact a Pendal account manager here


This information has been prepared by Pendal Fund Services Limited (PFSL) ABN 13 161 249 332, AFSL No 431426 and is current as at March 16, 2022. PFSL is the responsible entity and issuer of units in the Pendal Multi-Asset Target Return Fund (Fund) ARSN: 623 987 968. A product disclosure statement (PDS) is available for the Fund and can be obtained by calling 1300 346 821 or visiting www.pendalgroup.com. The Target Market Determination (TMD) for the Fund is available at www.pendalgroup.com/ddo. You should obtain and consider the PDS and the TMD before deciding whether to acquire, continue to hold or dispose of units in the Fund. An investment in the Fund or any of the funds referred to in this web page is subject to investment risk, including possible delays in repayment of withdrawal proceeds and loss of income and principal invested. This information is for general purposes only, should not be considered as a comprehensive statement on any matter and should not be relied upon as such. It has been prepared without taking into account any recipient’s personal objectives, financial situation or needs. Because of this, recipients should, before acting on this information, consider its appropriateness having regard to their individual objectives, financial situation and needs. This information is not to be regarded as a securities recommendation. The information may contain material provided by third parties, is given in good faith and has been derived from sources believed to be accurate as at its issue date. While such material is published with necessary permission, and while all reasonable care has been taken to ensure that the information is complete and correct, to the maximum extent permitted by law neither PFSL nor any company in the Pendal group accepts any responsibility or liability for the accuracy or completeness of this information. Performance figures are calculated in accordance with the Financial Services Council (FSC) standards. Performance data (post-fee) assumes reinvestment of distributions and is calculated using exit prices, net of management costs. Performance data (pre-fee) is calculated by adding back management costs to the post-fee performance. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Any projections are predictive only and should not be relied upon when making an investment decision or recommendation. Whilst we have used every effort to ensure that the assumptions on which the projections are based are reasonable, the projections may be based on incorrect assumptions or may not take into account known or unknown risks and uncertainties. The actual results may differ materially from these projections. For more information, please call Customer Relations on 1300 346 821 8am to 6pm (Sydney time) or visit our website www.pendalgroup.com

Keep updated
Sign up to receive the latest news and views