This is a particularly challenging time for investors. The global economy is in the midst of a "secular turn" driven by the emergence of Asia, and China in particular, as an important determinant of global growth, trade and financial flows. Meanwhile, industrial countries are adapting to new global realities that, for some, are inconsistent with existing levels of leverage – and international organisations, mandated to facilitate global adjustment, see their effectiveness muted by insufficient authority and outdated governance structures.

So what are investors to do? They should recognise that the global economy needs decisively to navigate its secular turn before the recent bout of volatility gives way to greater stability in the investment outlook.