Speaking at Portfolio Adviser’s recent Europe event, Tim Crockford, part of Hermes European Equities team, said the electoral cycle in Europe this year – with the German elections to come – had taken away attention from demographic issues in the region, such as an ageing population and high unemployment.
He said investors must position themselves for the “future economy, rather than the old economy”.
Other managers shared a similar outlook with Invesco Perpetual’s head of European equities Jeff Taylor saying investors should “overcome prejudices from the past” and invest more in the region.
Tawhid Ali, CIO of European value equities at Alliance Bernstein, saying the focus should be on companies that will do well regardless of the political environment.
Chris Garsten, manager of Waverton Investment Management’s European Capital Growth Fund, meanwhile said the single biggest challenge for investors in Europe is the super low interest rate environment which is distorting different parts of the market.
