By Jeff Salway

Scotland on Sunday

Sunday 11 November 2012

Stock markets took a tumble in the immediate wake of the election, but Obama's victory could yet be positive for UK savers.

An Obama victory is just what UK investors needed, says Jeff Salway

BARACK Obama's US election triumph will prove a timely shot in the arm for UK investors and pension savers, experts have predicted.

Stock markets took a tumble in the immediate wake of the election as global investors measured the scale of the challenge ahead. But advisers and fund managers are eager to reassure private investors and pension savers that the outlook for the US market is a positive one.

And millions of people in the UK have a stake in what happens next to the US economy and markets - whether they know it or not.

UK investors don't have the same level of direct interest in the US as in days gone by; just 4 per cent of the average investor's portfolio is held in US shares and funds, according to Chelsea Financial Services. But UK pension fund ownership of US equities and the billions that investors hold in global investment funds and trusts - which typically have a US weighting of more than 40 per cent - mean any events across the pond will cause more than a ripple effect here. ......

...... The good news for investors is that provided the fiscal cliff doomsday scenario is avoided, the US economy could be set for a boom period, believes Alan Steel, chairman of Alan Steel Asset Management.

"The big picture is the oil and gas discoveries in Dakota, Montana and Texas that will be a game changer for the US economy and the rest of the world," he said.

"The US will become an ­exporter of energy, costs are falling rapidly, profits are rising, unemployment will fall, incomes will rise, jobs and businesses are relocating to the US and manufacturing is being reborn."

The US boom that Steel ­expects over the coming years presents an opportunity for UK investors to get more exposure to the US and the global businesses most likely to benefit from it.

"The funds worth buying are those growth funds that have struggled over the last 12 months, when safety first has been the approach." ......

Quote courtesy of Scotland on Sunday

Sunday 11 November 2012