SVM's Cuthbert: Why old-style European utilities are dead

SVM's Hugh Cuthbert, co-manager of the All Europe SRI fund, has said the investment case for traditional utilities companies has come to a permanent end.

The manager, who runs the £21m fund with Neil Veitch, said the business model for many companies in the sector has eroded and is now no longer economically viable. "I think utilities are dead. The business model is bust, they are wasteful and inefficient and also wrong in terms of their economic model. I believe (traditional) utilities companies will be gone in ten years." He added the drive for sustainability is fundamentally shifting the model for energy supply. "If you put electricity down a wire you have already lost 10% of that generated. People used to generate locally and I ...