The second quarter of 2013 will be remembered – ruefully by some bruised investors – for the moment when markets had to accept that the global liquidity bonanza had to end. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke did not actually have to do anything to cause a rout across sectors. All it took was a hint, on May 22, that the Fed “might” consider scaling back its $85bn monthly bond purchases to send investors heading for the exit from bond funds.

Yet, while Bernanke's statement marks a sea change in US policy, the quarter was remarkable for other reasons.