He said there are few places to hide when everything has risen so strongly.
Mr Blackbourn said: "Market complacency and recent low volatility have likely led to some ill-disciplined positioning that is now being quickly unwound.
"History provides many examples of what happens when investors overextend themselves. However, for more dynamic investors like ourselves, these falls represent an opportunity.
"Global growth continues to strengthen and inflation is still relatively subdued, meaning that this is still a decent environment for corporate earnings growth. Having previously moved to fade the surge in the recent exuberance, we are looking for the appropriate moment to reinvest at more reasonable prices."
Lukas Daalder, chief investment officer of asset manager Robeco, said there is no need to panic over the equity market correction as the underlying global economy is strong.
He said one of the main characteristics of this sell-off is that it is equities – normally you would expect all risky assets including high yield bonds and emerging market debt to also sell off, but losses in these asset classes have been small.
As such, he said this seems to indicate that this is much more of a technical correction, especially in stocks that were continuing to go up and up without any reason.
Mr Daalder said: "They had become rather overbought, so at some point you are going to get a correction."
Mr Daalder says investors should focus on the underlying economic fundamentals that remain positive for equities long term, rather than the inevitable drama that the ‘sea of red screens’ always brings.
He said: "It doesn't feel like a life-threatening situation because the global economy is doing fine."
Guy Foster, head of research at Brewin Dolphin, agreed that what we are seeing is a bit of a shake-out in the equity markets around the world.
While it may feel traumatic, Mr Foster said it was not in many ways surprising.
Mr Foster said: "We expected volatility to pick up, as central bankers, who had hitherto been smoothing the path for investors with unnatural amounts of liquidity, have been trying to quietly withdraw their support.
"Interest rates are rising at a time when the economy needs money for the increased corporate investment activity which is taking place. That means there won’t be the constant flow of money into the equity market which has been supporting prices over the last couple of years
"The real challenge for investors after an environment of very low volatility is that they may be unnerved as it normalises. More volatility means more opportunity for active investors with strong nerves."
emma.hughes@ft.com
