The managers of the Artemis European Opportunities fund, Mark Page and Laurent Millet, argued that, in fact, economic growth is strengthening in Europe while it is “starting to disappoint in the rest of the world”.
“For example, the manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (an indicator of the health of the manufacturing sector) is now higher in the eurozone than in the US and emerging markets and last month grew to its highest level in six years.
“More anecdotally, many of the companies that we talk to cite continental Europe as one of their fastest-growing regions.”
The biggest fear on the horizon, a Marine Le Pen victory in the final round of the French election, has similarly been blown out of proportion, as has the likelihood of a French-exit.
“We think the risk of a French exit from the euro after the presidential election was widely overstated,” the pair added.
Having said that, Page and Millet are avoiding “stocks that are dependent on binary outcomes.”
