Dividends key in volatile times

conference

credit suisse's leigh harrison backs firms with dependable dividends at the expense of cyclicals

The threat of rising interest rates to the housing market is leading Credit Suisse's Leigh Harrison to avoid consumer-facing stocks. Harrison, manager of the group's UK Alpha Income and Monthly Income funds, is favouring higher yielding firms selling into corporate markets. Harrison expects interest rates in the UK will continue to rise before stabilising at about 5%. This will have a knock-on effect of slowing house price growth and consumer spending levels. There are also less obvious factors relating to these trends that will affect markets, he noted. For example, equity withdrawal,...