Claudio Barberis

“With equity markets still weak and volatility high, we maintain a diversified, conservative portfolio. The duration of the bond portion has been decreased, following a strong performance of long-duration government bonds. We took exposure to convertibles, to benefit from the continuing high volatility and the bond floor. On equities, we reduced exposure to the utilities sector and increased investments on Japanese equities. Market conditions still suggest sector plays like MLIIF W.GOLD$ and funds focused on large caps. We still like emerging markets total return bond funds such as the AMEX Global Emerging Markets Absolute Return fund.”