We are threatened with excitement in 2020, from civil unrest and ongoing trade wars to political upheaval and market volatility. We believe global economic expansion will continue at a slower, less even pace across regions.

The outlook for the UK stock market remains incredibly foggy in the run-up to this year's general election. Most global investors continue to regard the UK as an uninvestible market, as they have since the EU referendum in 2016.

The fund's investment strategy is based on an established process, which has a track record of producing returns with a low correlation to equities, bonds and alternatives, demonstrating particularly strong resilience in adverse market conditions.

When looking ahead to next year it is easy to focus on the many uncertainties around the world, but we prefer to focus on what we consider a certainty: the continued, rapid digitalisation of the financial services industry. We have already seen huge disruption on this front in the last five to ten years and we expect this to continue creating new investment opportunities through the next decade and beyond.

Swiss Re announced an agreement to sell its subsidiary ReAssure Group plc to Phoenix Group Holdings plc. As part of the agreement, which values ReAssure at GBP 3.25 billion, Swiss Re will receive a cash payment of GBP 1.2 billion, shares in Phoenix representing a 13% to 17% stake and be entitled to a seat on its Board of Directors.