Buxton: Is this the start of a new bull market for UK equities?

UK EQUITIES

Richard Buxton, Schroders' head of UK equities, takes a look at what to expect this year and over the next decade.

Over a decade ago I warned equities were likely to go sideways for 10-15 years. Not because I anticipated all the headwinds to growth we now face, but because from a starting price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio above 20x, the stockmarket was always going to struggle. Moreover, the pattern of long-term returns from UK equities is made up of extended periods of strong gains and multi-year phases of going nowhere. By 1999 we had enjoyed a near 20-year period of double-digit per annum returns. No wonder equity funds were best-selling and pension funds allocated over 80% to equities. There wa...