One-third of investors see Greek Euro exit, GAM survey shows

[GENEVA] About one-third of investors expect Greece to exit the euro area over the next 12 months, according to a survey carried out by Swiss asset manager GAM Holding AG.

Just 9 per cent of the 78 investors questioned by GAM predicted the UK leaving the European Union, the Zurich-based company said in an e-mailed statement on Tuesday. The survey was held at a private conference in Zurich on Friday.

Greece is squabbling with its creditors over lack of progress in talks to secure financing to replenish a bailout package expiring this month. The impasse has reignited concerns Greece may leave the single currency.

In the UK, David Cameron's Conservative Party won a general election last month after promising to hold a referendum on Britain's membership of the EU by 2017.

Investors saw geopolitical risk, a reversal of the economic recovery and interest rate movements as the main risks, according to GAM's survey.

Regulations should be changed to allow pension-fund managers more flexibility in decisions on allocating assets, most investors indicated. Seventy-eight per cent of those polled said pension funds will fail to meet long-term investment targets, GAM Holding said.

BLOOMBERG