Podger: Steer clear of last year's winners

Threadneedle's Jeremy Podger has urged investors to avoid last year's best performers whose share prices have already soared.

The group’s head of global equities and manager of the £627m Global Select fund says he would steer away from companies that have already enjoyed “slingshot performance”, as higher earnings have triggered a re-rating of their operating assets. “A better approach this year may be to focus more on long-term margin expectations – on a projected recovered revenue base,” he says. Podger says investors should not seek solace in “reassuringly expensive” stocks that grew substantially in 2010. He views cyclicals as a key theme for the year ahead, as they are trading significantly below the...