Market outlook

Huge levels of government debt and elevated unemployment make the outlook challenging for the consumer. Public sector cost cutting will only compound the issue

Like many commentators, we share a somewhat cautious outlook for the UK economy. Clearly there are huge levels of government debt and the outlook for the consumer looks challenging given elevated unemployment which public sector cost cutting will only add to. This is coupled with debt servicing costs that are likely to trend upwards as banks rebuild their balance sheets. So it is easy to fall victim to the siren call that says take money out of the UK stock market and redeploy overseas. However, as every UK market professional knows, the UK stock market does not have a lot to do with the...