The past year turned out to be more bullish than we anticipated. Consensus growth expectations caught up to ours and global earnings jumped-but the magnitude of asset returns surprised us. Most asset classes have performed well, with many delivering double-digit returns, as shown in the chart below.

The events many worried about in early 2017-including the election of a far-right government in France and aggressive U.S. trade policy-didn't materialize. The MSCI ACWI closed at a record high 61 times, and 30-day realized volatility of the S&P 500 Index hit its lowest level since the early 1960s. Other surprises: Inflation fell and long-term bond yields were flat even as the economy improved, while cryptocurrencies posted huge returns.

Five lessons from the past year

core inflation rises back above 2%. 2018 Global Investment Outlook Weekly Commentary Richard Turnill is BlackRock's global chief investment strategist. He is a regular contributor to The Blog .

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

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