Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia: The proportion of institutional investors planning to increase exposure to U.K. assets has fallen to 15% in Q4 2018 from 21% in the Q3, according to a quarterly survey by State Street Corporation.
According to the latest Brexometer index, a measure of institutional investor sentiment on the economic impact of Brexit, investors have grown more cautious about the outlook for British assets ahead of the key vote on Brexit in Parliament next week, indicating the investor base is growing wary as Brexit talks approach a crunch point.
Consequently, the proportion of investors looking to decrease their holdings of UK assets remained unchanged at 20% in Q4, said the study.
"This quarter's Brexometer was conducted in the first week of November, a period when, in theory, hopes of a deal were on the rise," said Michael Metcalfe, head of Global Macro Strategy at State Street Global Markets.
"Given that context, it is telling that there was little shift in investor attitudes toward their UK asset holdings. Such caution has been vindicated as November has progressed and while significant Brexit hurdles have been cleared, the UK parliamentary vote, which is perhaps the largest challenge to agreeing the deal, now looms large," Michael added.
In addition, despite a more optimistic outlook for the medium-term global economy in Q3, when investor sentiment had risen to 43%, the number of those holding a negative outlook has now doubled, from 15% to 3...................... To view our full article Click here
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