On Investors Chronicle, Darius McDermott of FundCalibre suggests looking at fund managers with a proven track record of strong performance in volatile times such as 2008/09 and also earlier this year.

Having crunched the numbers to identify those managers who outperformed in their sectors in both those recent periods of volatility, he came up with a shortlist of robust defensive suggestions across a wide range of sectors.

These include Baillie Gifford Japanese (Sarah Whitley), Fidelity Strategic Bond (Ian Spreadbury), First State Global Listed Infrastructure (Peter Meany), Investec Cautious Managed (Alastair Mundy), Liontrust Special Situations (Anthony Cross and Julian Fosh) and Schroder Asian Income (Richard Sennitt).

Jason Hollands of Tilney Bestinvest adds several others who also did relatively in both those previous difficult periods, including Troy Trojan Income (Francis Brooke), CF Lindsell Train UK Equity (Nick Train), Fundsmith Equity (Terry Smith) and Personal Assets Trust (Sebastian Lyon).

What about absolute return funds? They are supposed to produce positive returns in all market conditions, making them a great choice for troubled times – but many disappoint.

Reported on Money Observer, Brian Dennehy applied three screening tests to the absolute return sector, and identified just two absolute return funds that actually do what it says on the tin: Henderson UK Absolute Return and Threadneedle UK Absolute Alpha.

Meanwhile, for cautious investors seeking a bond fund, Square Mile research analyst Amaya Assan picked Axa Sterling Credit Short Duration Bond fund as her preferred choice.