The past decade has brought enormous changes in the global investment landscape, says Scott Berg, portfolio manager, global large-cap strategy with T. Rowe Price. He cites the tech bubble, Sept.11, housing booms, the global financial crisis and Japan’s earthquake as just a few of the events that have impacted the investment environment. However, from all this, he says four changes have stood out as the biggest in the past decade:
1. Increasing debt levels.
“People had been borrowing more and more money,” he says. “Debt levels had been going up across the board. And with the global financial crisis, that ended and changed… and will mean different things for the decade ahead.”
2. Emerging markets.
The size, scope and importance of emerging markets puts them at a whole different level than a decade ago, he says.
3. Demographics.
“For a long time, people have talked about the ageing of society, the baby boomers, and…we’re just reaching crunch point now,” he says. “And that’s partly what’s fueling the fiscal concerns in many countries.”
4. Real-time globalization.
The past decade has increased the speed at which information travels around the world, says Berg.
Watch the video to find out what else Berg had to say about each of these changes.