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Coutts in Leeds hosts investment seminar

Coutts in Leeds hosted an investment seminar for clients in the city. The event took place on Thursday at Harewood House, one of the Treasure Houses of England, and was attended by 130 clients from Leeds and the surrounding area.

The investment discussion was chaired by Alan Higgins, Chief Investment Officer, UK, at Coutts. Clients were provided with an overview of the macro economic situation, Coutts’ views on investment opportunities in 2012, and specifically for commercial property. Other speakers included Philip Organ, Senior Investment Consultant at Coutts in Leeds, Henry Lancaster, Senior Investment Analyst at Coutts, and guest speaker Ed Protheroe, Portfolio Analyst for the M&G Property Fund.

Richard Brown, Client Partner for Coutts in Leeds, said: “The evening was a great success and a valuable opportunity for our clients to tap in to the knowledge of our panel of experts. Clients are paying close attention to the economic landscape, given the ongoing spotlight on the eurozone and issues that can directly affect them, including high inflation and low interest rates. Through the seminar, clients were given the opportunity to gain additional insight into the current economic environment and our view for the next 12 months.”

Key highlights of Coutts’ 2012 Investment Outlook include:

1. Long-term strategies are required for equities. With low returns on cash, investors will need to take a longer-term horizon to preserve the value of money through investing.
2. The search for income will be an important goal for investors. Corporate bonds, emerging-market debt and gold will be better placed than global government bonds to deliver absolute positive returns. Investing in high yielding equities will help moderate market volatility, as well as provide income, and UK commercial property will provide attractive returns in a low-yield environment.
3. Asian economies will slow in 2012. Weak growth in Europe, a key trading partner for Asia, will be a key driver for slowing momentum, along with the lagged impact of 2011’s domestic policy tightening.
4. Stay with gold for commodities exposure. Gold is not immune to market volatility, but drivers such as the growth of central bank reserves and negative real yields from interest rates provide a positive outlook for the asset class. Gold is looking more attractive than other commodities as it is less likely to be affected by the lack of global growth.
5. The bond market in Asia is attractive given the strength of corporate balance sheets and continued, albeit slowing, growth should ensure that credit quality remains high.
6. Asian currencies will be a key long-term driver to global rebalancing. It is expected that the Chinese Yuan will take the lead, with appreciation of around 4-6% annually over the next three years, and that other currencies around the region will broadly track this.

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