With the party conference season in full swing and talk of the next general election in the air, CIO Gary Reynolds, says that whichever party comes to power won’t detract Courtiers from its approach to investment and stock selection.
“We try to base the decisions we make on what the consumer wants, which companies are building for the future and are likely to continue to do it well, and which of those stocks are cheap enough to put in the portfolio.” As far as he’s concerned, he doesn’t think that politics “makes a bit of a difference when we’re doing our job.”
Gary says finding value in the market “is not too difficult right now” and highlights infrastructure funds and house builders as particularly exciting. If the economy starts to pick up he says house builders “should do well”, while high interest rates means “you’re paying for infrastructure at a discount to the accounting value.”
With China in the news and economic growth there floundering, and the average American “significantly better off than the average person in China”, Gary explains why Courtiers currently holds only two Chinese stocks.
While we’re probably through the worst with inflation, Gary says he thinks interest rates have capped and should probably come down. “Certainly, in the UK and Europe, any more hiking interest rates now would be a big mistake.”
Finally, Gary previews December’s Client Seminar, and explains why he’s an advocate of Warren Buffett’s adage, which is that the best period to hold a stock is for ever.
