The world's biggest investment funds are cutting exposure to US and UK government bonds amid fears that rising public debt and the withdrawal of central bank support for their economies could scupper the global recovery.
The funds fear a big rise in government bond yields, or interest rates, triggered by market concerns about public finances, could quickly feed through to higher mortgages and business borrowing costs.
Pimco, one of the world's biggest bond funds with $940bn under management, warns that the record levels of government bond issuance in the US and UK and the end of loose money will put financial markets under intense pressure.