For many analysts the year ahead could be like the one just past with global equity markets gaining at the expense of bonds as the global economy gains momentum.
And while investors should "stay the course" this year, there are some important reasons why 2014 will be different from last year, KKR's global macro and asset allocation team said in its 2014 outlook report on Tuesday.
(Read more: US stocks starting off 2014 in correction mode?)
Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.Getty Images
For starters, KKR said that while it maintained an overweight position towards equity markets in the developed world and a "massive" underweight position in government bonds, it expected stock markets in the U.S., Europe and Japan to have a bumpier ride this year with a correction along the way.
Indeed, after a stellar 2013 major stock markets appear to be on the back foot amid a mixed start to the U.S. earnings season and Friday's soft U.S. jobs report.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average, which hit a record high last year, suffered a triple-digit loss on Monday. Japan's Nikkei stock index, the darling of world equity markets last year with a surge of almost 57 percent, is down almost 5 percent since the start of the year.
(Read more: Dollar bulls: Time to pack up and go home?)
