The good times are over as risk-taking diminishes, says Bill Gross

“The good times are over” and 2015 will be a tough year for many asset classes, according to Bill Gross, the former boss of bond fund Pimco.

In his monthly investment outlook fro Janus Capital Group, where he manages the $1.2bn Janus Global Unconstrained Bond Fund, Gross recommended: “Beware the Ides of March, or the Ides of any month in 2015 for that matter.”

He said: “When the year is done, there will be minus signs in front of returns for many asset classes. The good times are over.”

Gross believes that if real growth in developed and highly levered economies failed to normalise with interest rates near zero, investors will “ultimately seek alternative havens”.

He recommended investors to “be cautious and content” with low positive returns in 2015.

“The time for risk-taking has passed.”

Gross said that markets have come to expect that monetary and fiscal policy would produce “continuing prosperity” across many asset classes across the globe.

“There comes a time, however, when zero-based, and in some cases negative yields, fail to generate sufficient economic growth,” he said.

“While such yields almost automatically result in higher bond prices and escalating [price-to-earnings] ratios, their effect on real growth diminishes or in some cases, reverses.”