But with this comes additional risk. Mr Potaczek comments: "One of the key benefits of using multi-asset funds is the smoother investment journey they provide and not just the total performance.
"You need to consider what level of volatility a client is prepared to tolerate in their portfolio. At a time when geopolitical concerns are on the rise, and the return of volatility is expected by many, protecting portfolios from large market spikes might be more important than ever."
His concerns are based on historical fact: consider the 2008 financial crisis, when all asset classes were seemingly correlated, as they all travelled on the same trajectory: downwards.
People's funds were not as diversified as they had thought, prompting those who wanted to remain invested to seek out ways to get that diversification along with risk mitigation.
During times of great market volatility - 2008 being a case in point - multi-asset has done well. A decade ago, the IA Mixed Investment 20 per cent to 60 per cent Shares sector became a place of investment refuge during the Credit Crisis (see Figure 1, below).
Source: Investment Association
Although in 2017 multi-asset funds did not take the top spot - Fixed Income was the winner then in terms of net inflows - they still took in billions of pounds from investors.
Alastair Wainwright, fund market specialist for the IA, comments: "Mixed Asset funds ended 2017 with a bang after receiving £1.7bn in December - their highest net retail monthly inflow ever.
"This brought net retail sales to £13.5bn over the last year. The Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares and 20-60% Shares sectors took in £2.8bn and £2.5bn in 2017, respectively, while £5.8bn was invested in the Mixed Asset category within the IA Unclassified sector."
Andrew Harman, portfolio manager for the First State Diversified Growth fund, believes the reason for the rise in multi-asset funds is because of their ability to adjust for prevailing market conditions, allowing the investor to remain invested, without being caught out by high concentration risk in any one asset class or sector.
He says: "Multi-asset investing offers the ability to allocate to an investment universe of UK and global investments including developed and emerging equities, government bonds and corporate borrowers, commodities, currencies and cash.
"The attraction of this approach is that it provides a diversified, simple and cost effective investment solution."
Additionally, a multi-asset approach offers real-time risk insight and the ability to adjust portfolio positions for prevailing market conditions.
