Financial markets must start to account for the personalities of populist world leaders, according to veteran investment banker and philanthropist John Studzinski.

His comments come at a time when market participants are increasingly concerned about a serious economic slowdown, with a long-running global trade war souring business and consumer sentiment.

"One of (the) things we didn't anticipate last year is we are increasingly in a geopolitical recession and we have spent the last 10 years very focused on the quantitative aspects of growth," John Studzinski, managing director and vice chairman of Pimco, told CNBC at the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Tuesday.

"Now we have got to deal with the personality aspects of growth," he added.