Market volatility also played out, as well as the growing share of jumbo deals, usually more sensitive to adverse developments. Amid very supportive conditions for M&A (from the tax reform in particular), weaker deal rationales are also mentioned as a greater source of deal volatility.

With monetary tightening expected, investors will need to consider the sensitivity of their equity portfolio to sovereign bonds and protect it as far as possible through active stock selection and sector allocation.

We have been expecting a pick-up in market volatility as part of our global outlook for 2018. The current volatility episode should, however, be temporary as market participants take note of the gradual normalisation of inflation and monetary policy.

TOBAM, the Smart Beta pioneer, announced today the launch of the TOBAM Bitcoin Fund, an unregulated Alternative Investment Fund, set up in France. The fund, the first of its kind in Europe, will allow qualified and institutional investors wanting to gain an exposure to the cryptocurrency to benefit from TOBAM's top-of-the league research and IT systems to track the value of investing in the Bitcoin.

Markets have been remarkably resilient to political shocks, so are investors getting complacent? No, says Jaap Hoek in Robeco's new five-year outlook.