Corporate Bonds – A Safe Haven For 2012

Corporate Bonds – A Safe Haven For 2012 By Guest Blogger Imogen Reed. The US economy may have turned a corner, growth in Asia may still be impressive, and the Eurozone may have been saved from going into free fall, but 2012 still promises to be an ‘interesting’ year, and a difficult one for investors. The US recovery is still not entirely secure, and if the last few months are anything to go by it is likely that this recovery will be a much slower affair than previous ones, partly at least due to the high levels of personal and government debt, which will inevitably act as a dampener on expansion for several years. Asian growth rates whilst still impressive are gradually moderating, affected not only by the slowdown in the western economies, but also by increasing costs of production resulting from indigenous wage pressures and external increases in the cost of raw materials. Meanwhile, crisis in the Eurozone may have only been deferred rather than averted. The Greek tragedy may have been largely discounted by the markets, but countries such as Portugal and Spain remain perilously close to the edge, and even countries outside the Euro such as the UK are experiencing almost no growth, and are under threat of having their AAA debt rating downgraded.