16th January 2008

Trustnet: Safety in 2008; hopes for property, technology

Our article argues that there is no such thing as a ‘safe’ home for investments in uncertain times, but the big cap companies that form the backbones of many of the big generalist investment trusts are at least medium risk.

These type of 'steady Eddie' companies are the ones which managers and financial advisers expect to make the best returns in the difficult times that 2008 will almost certainly bring. A recent survey from the Association of Investment Companies found that IFAs are tipping resources including oil, blue chips and energy and utilities for next year. Fund managers are also tipping blue chips and resources. Get the full story here.

Global property funds suffered a hard hit in 2007 as a result of jittery stock markets and a breakdown of confidence in the UK commercial property market. The sharp shift in investor sentiment towards British property during the year led to a wave of unit trust redemptions and prompted a sell off of property investment trusts. Most commercial property funds, whether UK or globally focused, are now nursing hefty losses while their listed counterparts are trading on large double digit discounts.

Despite this, experts argue that fundamentals in countries outside the UK remain in many cases supportive of commercial property. In this piece, we examine the areas where property investments are still holding promise, and get the views of sector insiders.

The technology sector has not been the richest of hunting grounds in recent years. The dotcom crash of 2000-1 was followed by several years of poor returns and negative investor sentiment. Since the heady days of early 2000, managers have occasionally re-emerged from the trenches but until recently returns have not justified any investment.

However in recent months, technology has reappeared on the radar of the fund manager and retail investor as returns start to the beat the wider market. Read our report to find out who has been quietly making the most of this sector, and how its potential is set to re-awaken.