Expat concerns over slow UK recovery fuel overseas investments

Published:  12 Dec at 6 PM
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Expat investors are increasingly looking to their local economies’ investment potentials due to concerns over the UK’s slow recovery from the financial crisis.

A survey undertaken on behalf of Lloyds TSB International has revealed that just seven per cent of expat investors have confidence in the UK economy over the next half year, with only 14 per cent confident of its prospects during 2013. Positive sentiments towards the UK as a destination for investment only surface in a three to five year timeframe.

In contrast, 29 per cent of those surveyed are upbeat about their local economies over the next six months, with 42 per cent believing outlooks over 2013 are positive and only 26 per cent taking a negative stance. UK expats in Germany, Canada and Switzerland are the most upbeat, with those in Spain, France and South Africa respectively the most downbeat.

According to Richard Musty, director of Lloyds TSB International, the UK’s economy is picking up and beginning to move in a positive direction, although results may take a time to show. UK expat investors, he believes, are concerned about the length of time involved, resulting in more interest in popular investment havens in the Eurozone and further afield.

The survey showed that local investments are well ahead of those in sterling, with five times as many investors preferring local markets. US equities are giving cause for concern due to the upcoming ‘fiscal cliff’ and the lack of a deal between the two political parties which would allow the US’s book to balance and remove the threat of a double-dip recession.

The private bank’s advisors suggest that, contrastingly, European equities may present better value in spite of the unresolved sovereign debt crisis. The current view seems to be that both UK and US equities will be outperformed over the short-term by their European equivalents.
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