Companies at the lowest valuations in many years

ON THE US

ANDREW HOLLIMAN, manager of the Threadneedle American fund on the US

For more information on America, search Adviserhound.com Private sector debt as a percentage of GDP is still at very high levels. The employment market remains weak and the housing market has taken another turn for the worse. However, it is not all economic gloom. Consumers have already meaningfully adjusted their behaviour – the personal savings rate has moved up from close to zero to 6%, not far from a more sustainable level. While we do not see unemployment returning to the low levels seen in the past 10 years, we believe we have seen a peak in the unemploy­ment rate. High le...