The global economic order is at an inflection point. Geo political tensions, technological innovation and business investments are creating fault lines around the world – leading to widening income equality and an increase in nationalism and populism. Against this backdrop, many asset classes are seeing multiyear trends coming to a head. Global central banks are easing off the stimulus pedal. The world will become less synchronized as we head towards 2019 leading to rising dispersion and falling correlations. This will create new challenges across global markets – but also, new opportunities. We highlight where those high-conviction opportunities will emerge in 2019.

The collapse of Lehman Brothers and subsequent global financial crisis sent shockwaves through the world economy, many of which still reverberate a decade later. The year 2020 is emerging as a popular point in time for when the next economic downturn may arrive. We sit down with Hong Kong’s longest serving financial secretary to hear his personal account of the 2008 crash, whether global economies are ready for the next downturn, and insight into his future plans.

2019 is set to be a year dominated by growing divides in the global economy: fed hikes could drive a wedge between emerging and mature markets; widening income inequality will see the rich get richer and an increasingly connected, tech driven world could increase the digital divide. Add to that – pockets of populism around the world that will continue to bring disruptive political ideas into the mainstream. We descend deep into the chasms that are causing global divisions within politics, policy, technology and society, and identify the innovations that will emerge in response.