growth, with equities staying attractive propositions to investors relative to fixed income funds.

According to the IMF's latest statistics, the forecast for world growth is down from a rate of 5.2 percent in 2007 to 4.8 percent for this year, while the rest of the markets follow suit, with Canada dropping from 2.5 percent to 2.3 percent over the same time period and the UK declining from 3.1 percent to 2.3 percent, but the US should remain up at 1.9 percent.

"Despite the market volatility, I think we are still in a growth economy," said Mr. Sterling.

"It is a slowdown for sure, but you could not think of a better time for the US to have a slowdown while all of this dynamism in the rest of the world, particularly the emerging markets, acts as a cushion."

Mr. Sterling believes the global economy is in the midst of a "mid-cycle pause", which should help reduce inflation pressures and set the stage for continued growth over the course of the decade.

He also thinks central banks have the necessary ammunition and motive to prevent the slowdown from turning into a co-ordinated recession and favourable valuations and prospects for continued global growth should favour equities over fixed income investments, with investors holding well-diversified portfolios best positioned to cope with volatile market conditions.