Low rates make Robeco more cautious

Singapore

WITH significant rate hikes still appearing a distant prospect, Dutch asset manager Robeco says it is getting more cautious.

Low interest rates are encouraging fundamentally weak companies to take on more debt, while yield-chasing private bank investors are borrowing to pursue returns, it said.

"We are quite worried about the misallocation of capital that's happening at the moment," said Edith Siermann, Robeco's chief investment officer of fixed income.

She said central banks have to start removing their accommodative policies, as worrying signs of cheap money are showing in how …