Unfazed by Greece, some fund managers stay bullish on Europe

New York

THE prospect of Greece defaulting on its debt has long been viewed as the recipe for a global stock market disaster. Yet some fund managers are prospering by ignoring the risks of another financial crisis and moving more money into European stocks.

The US$11.5 billion Thornburg International Value fund increased the percentage of European stocks such as French materials maker Compagnie de Saint-Gobain and French construction company Vinci by 10 percentage points since the end of 2014, making European stocks 65 per cent of its total assets, said Brian Burrell, an analyst at the fund.