Neptune calls for return of consumer growth

At the 2nd annual Investment conference hosted by Neptune Investment Management, Rob Burnett, Investment Director and Head of European equities, warned the audience of 120 clients, not to bet against global consumption growth.

"Despite consensus believing that consumption will shrink or remain static, we think they're wrong" warned Rob Burnett. "We are expecting data to continue to surprise on the upside, and even forecast the US to record a positive payroll before 2009 draws to a close".

Neptune has been responding by buying high quality stocks, making the Neptune European Opportunities Fund fully invested, a position it expects to be in at least until the turn of the year.

The European Opportunities Fund, now the largest fund in the Neptune stable, is currently overweight in financials, where he still believes there to be 10-20% more upside in some European banks, and consumer stocks in order to best capture the opportunities caused by the strong data and the return of mergers and acquisitions.

Despite delivering a bullish presentation, Rob Burnett sounded a note of caution saying "At a macro level we do expect inflation to stay muted and anticipate weak pricing in 2010. This reflects our underweight position on utilities and energy".