Investors need to reassess their appetite for risk in 2015, Tom Elliott of deVere Group has said.
The international investment strategist made the warning in response to expected market volatility as well as regulatory changes over the next year.
Mr Elliott said: “Investors who are sensitive to market volatility may need to increase their exposure to defensive sectors and stock markets, because stock market volatility is likely to increase in 2015.
“The uncertainty over the ongoing development of the euro project, and Japan’s use of massive fiscal and monetary expansion to achieve consistent economic growth, represent existing political risks for investors.
“2015 may also see some increase in risk coming from other countries.
“For instance, we may discover if China’s private sector has taken on too much debt, if a wave of defaults from property companies, for example, leads to a banking crisis, will the Chinese government bail them out? What will the impact be on growth?”
Mr Elliott added that the upcoming UK general election also causes uncertainty, with rise of the SNP and UKIP as well as the prospect of a minority or coalition government.
In terms of regulation Mr Elliott said the wave of post-credit crunch financial sector regulation, particularly the US 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, have caused investment banks to allocate less capital to market making.
This has caused financial markets to be less liquid and more susceptible to panics, he said.
DeVere, which has more than 70 offices around the world, looks after 80,000 clients and has $10bn under advice.
