As 2017 draws to a close (this will be the last Market Insight of the year so Happy Holidays everyone!) it is fair to say that the past 12 months weren’t especially kind to the bears. Global equities, despite looking expensive on standard valuation metrics, generated double digit gains in developed markets (EAFE Index +19%) while emerging market equities recorded even stronger gains (EEM Index +27%). Adding to the misery for the bears, the sell-off in bonds witnessed in the final weeks of 2016 failed to evolve into the multi-decade trend reversal many investors anticipated it would[1]. Thankfully, we were