08/07/2011
By Matt Ritchie
A new survey shows investors’ views of their countries’ economic outlook is directly correlated with the states’ austerity needs.
Schroders’ survey of 2,200 high net worth investors across 10 European countries shows that investors in Italy, Spain, the UK and France are the least optimistic about the domestic and global economic outlook in 2011. The global asset management company said these are also the countries with some of the highest fiscal austerity needs across Europe.
In contrast, investors in Sweden, Switzerland and Germany, which have some of Europe's lowest fiscal austerity needs, are the most optimistic about the outlook of their domestic economies as well as the global economy this year.
While the survey showed varying sentiment in the near term, opinions converge when asked about the five and ten year outlooks.
European economist at Schroders, Azad Zangana, said the results of the survey show confidence is “very low”, and that there is a clear relationship between confidence in investors' domestic market and the global economy.
“Investor optimism appears to be lowest in countries that have the greatest need for fiscal austerity, such as Spain and the UK, and this appears to strongly influence their global outlook. There is however growing confidence amongst European investors and despite the risks of Greece restructuring its sovereign debt, investors remain positive over the longer term.”
Other stories you may find of interest:
European Products March 2009
Kotak Mahindra Ltd has launched a Fixed Maturity Plan to help foreign investors to access the Indian Corporate Debt market. The wholly owned subsidiary of India's Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd follows Kotak's success in a bidding process in which the company secured $730mn in corporate debt. The fund will be open to institutional investors, private banks and family offices in the UK, Europe, Middle East and Far East
Global resource equities driven by EM demand
Natural resources equities offer considerable opportunities, despite the macroeconomic and environmental events that have dominated the news and challenged commodity markets this year, according to Schroders. This is being sustained by a supercycle of emerging market growth that is providing structural support to the sector
No restructuring despite Greek downgrade - Schroders
The costs of a restructuring of Greek debt in the near-term would far outweigh the benefits - both for the country and the Euro area, according to asset manager Schroders
