Investment - Articles - Sarko’s woes offers investors another bite of the EU cherry

 By John Ventre, Portfolio Manager, Skandia Investment Group

 During Q3/Q4 of last year, we built up an overweight position in both European equities and European High Yield debt.

 My view in October was that European equities in particular were trading at post-Lehman type valuations and that while there were certainly risks, the market was priced for a worst case outcome. If bad outcomes are in the price then you have the potential to make a lot of money if it turns out that reality is less bad than expectations.

 While we had to be patient, the payoff arrived in Q1 of this year as the ECBs LTRO programme shifted the risks in Europe from a potential financial crisis to a possible political crisis.

 It now seems as though these political risks are rearing their head with Sarkozy struggling to win re-election, the Dutch government in transition, and Merkel facing a tough fight later in the year.

 This is giving investors another bite at the cherry.