Sir Michael Hintze, the billionaire chief executive of hedge fund manager CQS, has cited conflict in North Korea as a major concern for 2018 — but cautioned against giving undue weight to the region’s impact on global markets.

Hintze said tensions in North Korea could be described as “binary”, meaning “it doesn’t matter until it does matter”. He made the comments in his latest 'CQS Insights' letter, in which he gave investors his predictions for the next 12 months.