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Downbeat Swedes settle for meagre returns

The huge losses equity investors have suffered so far in 2016 have dented the investment outlook of Swedish fund buyers. They forecast only modest returns from their equity holdings during the coming years.

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PA Europe

“US investment-grade credit markets have almost fully priced in a recession,” said David Averre, head of credit analysis at Insight Investment. He believes yields might up another 15 basis points, but this shouldn’t stop investors from putting in money now. “It gives you sufficient margin, since IG-spreads will always compensate you for the risk of defaults.”

On the equity front, there is also a shining, or rising star: Japan. The adoption of stewardship and governance codes has transformed Japan from an investor point of view, said Schroders’s Webber. “For the first time you get domestic, institutional shareholders asking companies about their structures, how they are allocating capital,” he said. “Japan has been a cheap market with a lot of good companies for a long time, but because of the value trap and bad governance it hasn‘t materialised for investors so far.”

Click here to see a full overview of delegate voting results from Expert Investor Sweden.

And click here to see a slideshow of photos taken at the event.

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