The Big Question: What is your contrarian trade for this year?

THE BIG QUESTION

In the first part of a series, fund managers explain why they are going against the herd on certain calls.

Simon Murphy, manager of Old Mutual UK Select Equity and UK Opps   Banks As the ECB has moved aggressively under Mario Draghi to underwrite government and bank funding in the eurozone, the cost of funding for banks in the EU has fallen more generally. The Bank of England has achieved similar results, though on a smaller scale, with the Funding for Lending scheme. At the same time, banks are seeing through structural change, selling off non-core assets and improving their loan-to-deposit ratios. The regulatory response to the 2008 banking crisis also continues to evolve. Basel...