The answer to the diversification question has long been the 60:40 portfolio. Combining bonds with equities had allowed investors to capture growth while mitigating drawdowns. It worked so well that many investors came to regard the negative correlation between equities and bonds as a permanent feature of markets.
Talaria co-CIO Hugh Selby-Smith notes however the conditions that supported the 60:40 are coming to an end, and bonds and equities are increasingly correlated. In fact, we have seen them fall together as recently as March 2026.
Where, then, can investors find genuine diversification?
Hugh is the Co-CIO and Co-Founder of Talaria Asset Management. He began working in international equity markets in London in 1999 covering a range of global industries and sectors at Kleinwort Benson and Goldman Sachs, where he was consistently recognised by the likes of Institutional Investor, Greenwich Associates and Thomson Extel for his work.
He subsequently joined the international equities specialist TT International where he was part of the six-person team responsible for managing the firms long only Institutional Funds.
Hugh holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Letters from Melbourne University, and co-founded Talaria Asset Management in 2018.
