The late-cycle exuberance typically evident in risky assets is notable by its absence, while bubbles appear to have formed in safe assets.

Navigating late-cycle investing doesn't mean avoiding risk but it does require formulating strategies that take into account unexpected threats.

Investors in search of growth opportunities should look to emerging market economies, which are growing at a faster pace than the developed world.

If we look past the market's most recent fixation on the possibility of fiscal stimulus, there's little to distinguish today's environment of sluggish growth and pedestrian returns from the similarly predictable rhythm of the past few years. But these unchanged conditions are deceptive and mask a period that's been characterized by groundbreaking monetary policy decision-making that has contributed to the paradoxes of our times.