M&G's French moves defensive on global growth concerns

Graham French, manager of the £4.28bn M&G Global Basics fund, has moved defensively in recent months on concerns over a slowdown in global growth.

French built up his fund's cash weighting to 9% by the end of June and has continued to allocate to established cash generative consumer staples at the expense of the portfolio's cyclical names. "Concerns about global growth have put equity valuations under renewed pressure, and I am cautious on the outlook for the economy and financial markets," French says. "I remain cautious but optimistic on the prospects for the world's developing economies, due largely to the impact that seismic structural and demographic shifts are having on the outlook for consumer spending on a wide range of ...