Old Mutual is cautious on U.S. equity mart

Believing that the U.S. is more vulnerable to a global slowdown than a resurgent Europe, Old Mutual Asset Managers (U.K) (OMAM) in London is adopting a cautious stance on the U.S. equity mart, said Prash Arora, global equity manager. U.S. corporates heavily depend on exports to Latin America and Asia in contrast to their European counterparts, he explained. At the end of the third quarter of 1998, OMAM went further underweight in the U.S. by cutting the allocation by 1% and shifting the monies into U.K equities.

For a typical global equity portfolio, OMAM invests 48.6% in the U.S., 25.4% in Continental Europe, 11.6% in the U.K and 9.4% in Japan. The balance comprises 1.9% in Canada, 1.3% in Australia, 1% in Hong Kong, 0.7% in Singapore and 0.1% in New Zealand....