Neil Veitch, manager of the SVM UK Opportunities fund, has said the period of heavy fines for UK financials is coming to an end, with renewed dividend payments by Lloyds marking the sector's transformation into a safer investment option.
The manager (pictured) of the £104m fund has been increasing his exposure to financials every month since June to reach a weighting of 22.7% against the IA UK All Companies sector average of 15.5%, including a 5% position in Lloyds. "In general, we are fairly optimistic on UK banks, but we have also considered the downside risk for many of these share prices should we turn out to be wrong, which we do not think is currently that high due to elevated multiples in the market," he said. "We are not outright bullish - we know banks will not return to their pre-crisis levels of profitabili...
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