French fund managers sanguine despite election risk
Their global peers fret about the risk of Le Pen winning the vote, but the French see a more moderate candidate prevailing
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FAR from Paris, global investors fret about the risk across asset classes of anti-European Union (EU) candidate Marine Le Pen winning France's presidential election. Yet the country's biggest money managers, who together oversee US$3 trillion, are holding on to their European equity positions. Amundi and Axa Investment Managers are among those which are sanguine about the vote's eventual outcome.
The disparity centres on how market participants interpret the dynamics of France's electoral process, from public-opinion surveys to coalition-building after the May 7 run-off vote. Polls show National Front leader Ms Le Pen ahead for the election's first round on April 23, and losing in the run-off two weeks later.
While French fund managers see scope for volatility flaring up in markets, they see a more moderate candidate prevailing by the end of the second round of voting. That's when they say investors' focus should switch back to fundamentals: the country's economic recovery and a revival in corporate results.
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