Ruffer Radio: Cold War II

Alexander Chartres, Investment Director and resident geopolitics specialist, explores the shifting sands of world order. He discusses the deteriorating relationship between the US and China and considers the implications of a new world disorder – on companies, portfolios and our everyday lives.

“After Cold War I, the world traded weapons of mass destruction for weapons of mass production.”

This shift heralded an extraordinarily benign era for investors, characterised by low inflation, low volatility and low interest rates.

The return of geopolitical instability signals a regime change for markets. At the heart of this, is a fierce contest between the US and China – “a long-term, full spectrum struggle for supremacy which will profoundly reshape the world as we know it.”

For the first time in a generation, investors must once again try to understand geopolitics and prepare their portfolios for Cold War II.