Robert Burdett, co-head of the F&C multi-manager team, points to his own analysis on research from Lipper CAMRA survey, which suggests that the UK retail fund management industry as a whole has been steadily adding to Europe since mid-2012 at the expense of other regions.
“The contradictory nature of these surveys compound the problem all investors face when trying to second guess where the competition are – perhaps they/we should all be thinking more absolute after all,” he says.
“It seems to us that on balance in asset allocation terms there is still potential for a continued move to Europe should it continue to deliver on its nascent recovery.
“We are currently tactically overweight to half the level we can be but with a nervous finger on both the ‘buy’ and the ‘sell’ triggers, watching every piece of data and fund manager musing like a hawk”.
A final word goes to the latest data from the Investment Association, which tallies that European equity funds were the third best-selling by region in June – behind UK and global – with net retail sales £171m. However, this was the lowest figure since January 2015.
Whichever data source you rely on – or even if you prefer not to count – it is clear that while eurozone equities may well be relatively cheap, it still takes a brave investor to buy into the story given the current uncertain macro climate.
