But, reading this week’s other PA analysis pieces from my colleagues Alex Sebastian and Gary Shepherd, there is a growing concern about the level of bullish sentiment present in what are already highly valued markets.
The extent of this bullish mood was underlined on Wednesday by the release of the latest retail fund sales data from the Investment Association.
After 10 consecutive months of outflows, UK investors finally took the plunge in November, with net inflows of £1.5bn, the second highest level of monthly net retail sales for the year.
Mixed asset funds fared best, collecting £634m, while equities followed closely behind with £583m. Within the equity space, global funds (which often have a considerable weighting toward the US) were the most popular. On the other side of the equation, the IA said, property and money market funds saw small outflows, while £202m was pulled out of fixed income funds, the first outflow from fixed income since February 2016.
For Tilney Bestinvest MD Jason Hollands, the IA data clearly suggests that many retail investors have put the doom-laden predictions 0f 2016 behind them and is clearly indicative of the so-called ‘Trump effect’.
“Large swathes of the City and Wall Street have indeed had a Road to Damascus moment with election of Trump,” he said, before adding: “Calling the top of a market is a mug’s game but over the long-term investors do have a habit of piling in when market are near their peak points.”
