Banking crises have happened since the 1840s and the collapse of key players in the financial ecosystem often which lead to widespread panic and a scramble to preserve capital. The question on everyone’s minds is: ‘Is my money safe?’

With the end of easy money policies from central banks around the world and expectations of rising interest rates, you may be wondering — Should bonds play a role in my investments? In this environment, why hold bonds at all?’ In addition to the wealth of existing peer reviewed academic evidence, a recent machine learning analysis by Vanguard may help to provide some insights.

Investopedia defines ‘Home Bias’ as the tendency for investors to invest the majority of their portfolio in domestic equities. However, putting too much of your money into homegrown companies doesn’t pay off all the time. Diversification spreads your investments among more components and reduces risk in your portfolio.

Interest rates will eventually rise and when they do, the transition from a low-yield to a higher-yield environment can lead to capital losses in portfolios and also put pressure on those who have taken up new levels of debt. Are you prepared?

There are signs that the more than 30-year bond bull market is finally turning.