There are signs a recession could be on the way. Here are some ways to protect your savings

In terms of what investors should be doing with their portfolio, Schroders Investment Strategist Whitney Sweeney said “diversification is key, as is patience.”

She said this was important as market volatility remained, with the Russia-Ukraine war still unresolved, and as central bank rate hikes have come even more into focus for investors over the past week. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said last week that the U.S. central bank could hike interest rates more aggressively in an effort to temper inflation.

“If this all seems a little ambiguous and confusing for investors, it’s because it is,” Sweeney told CNBC via email. However, she added that while there have been few instances where the yield curve has flipped and there hasn’t been a recession, it’s important to note that it’s not happened every time.

Like Icahn, Sweeney highlighted that key issue was whether the Fed could “engineer that soft landing” in its tightening of monetary policy to battle inflation, without tipping the U.S. economy into a recession.

She pointed out that commodities, along with “value” and “cyclical” stocks are among the investments that have tended to perform best amid rising interest rates. Value stocks are those companies which are considered to be trading at a lower price, despite their strong fundamentals and potential to perform. Meanwhile, cyclicals are companies that see their share price performance fluctuate with the economic cycle.