Get a second helping of dim sum bonds

'Sell in May and go away" is a debatable trading adage but one which has stayed with investors through the years. The long-term unreliability of the maxim notwithstanding, there is growing uncertainty as we approach the midway mark for 2014.

Some of the macro forces that have determined the course of global markets since the 2008 financial crisis are starting to morph. The US Federal Reserve is halfway through unwinding its quantitative easing (QE), or asset-purchase, program, bringing us closer to the day when it will start raising interest rates. China's economy is gradually slowing as policymakers continue to deflate a credit bubble at a controlled pace, even as they embark on wide-ranging structural reforms. And new geopolitical risks are emerging from hitherto unexpected quarters (such as Ukraine).

How should an investor safeguard his/her portfolio, and generate healthy, inflation-adjusted returns in the face of such uncertainties? We (Standard Chartered) have been recommending a diversified portfolio with overweight on developed market equities, balanced with some multi-income assets which include high dividend-paying stocks and high-yielding bonds.