Sovereign stress and its impact on bond portfolios

The early weeks of summer may have brought a period of calm to the financial markets after a turbulent first half of the year, but by mid-August there were signs the global economic recovery may yet hit further stumbling blocks. After surprising economists and investors with 4.4% GDP growth year-on-year in the first quarter, Japan brought a dose of reality back to the markets when it reported a measly 0.4% growth rate in Q2, well below forecasts.
Perhaps of greater significance was the