Almost half of the room was convinced that the European Union would be better off in a two-tier currency situation, with the stronger states divided from the weaker ones. This was generally disputed by the panellists, who felt that the stronger states had profited as much from the relationship as the others.
While the general macroeconomic outlook was positive, it was noticeable that the room was less convinced about Europe than the world as a whole: 60% of the people were optimistic about the world; only 40% were upbeat about Europe.
When it comes to the US, it is interesting how consistent attitudes have been to investing in US equities. In almost every event in the past two months there has been a near-perfect halving in the number of people looking to increase their US market weighting this year, relative to 2012.
Dollar theory
Helsinki, Munich, the Netherlands, Zurich – in all these places, investors are cooling-off quickly in their attitude to US equities.
However, in Oslo (and Copenhagen) the buying is on – last year 12% of respondents were buying more US equities; now more than 40% are. A similar (in fact a greater) rise is apparent in Denmark.
There were theories as to why this might be – one of which is the link between Norwegian wealth and the US dollar. But it seems there was simply more respect for the ability of corporate US to sustain profitability.
Click here to see a slideshow of photos taken at Expert Investor Norway.
Platinum members can additionally view a full breakdown of the event voting data here, as well as long-term comparison graphs on the main asset classes here.
