Buxton: UK banks do not need more capital

Schroders' star manager Richard Buxton has been boosting exposure to UK banks in the view they will not need further bailouts, and their share prices are too low to ignore.

Buxton, managing the £2.5bn Schroder Alpha Plus fund, said although the sector faces uncertainty over ring-fencing proposals, the bad news is now more than discounted in stock prices. He has sold out of his 2.5% position in Autonomy following its takeover by Hewlett-Packard and has used the proceeds to top up positions in RBS and Lloyds, taking them to 3% and 1.5% respectively. “I have been adding on the really bad days at the very depressed levels, when RBS was at 20p and Lloyds 29p – at these levels it is clear the banking sell-off has been overdone,” said Buxton. “The share pric...