At recent catch-up-over-coffee mornings with a couple of the fund managers we work with, the topic of conversation pivoted around corporate private equity at our advisory arm, and real estate developments of varying types. The travel across town to take my seat at the table affords time to read the business pages in the day’s paper – and to gauge whether news from the coffee table runs either in parallel or in contrast with the editorials of the day. After all, every paper will report its quota of economic and financial malaise!
Positively, the drive of those funds to deploy into new investments is still as strong ever, which aligns with the interest we continue to enjoy from investors taking part in the current opportunities at Axial Capital. Granted the positivity will be more lacklustre in some sectors as compared with others (if you’d co-invested with Mike Ashley in Debenhams your stock ticker may not inspire too much confidence at this point..). The point being that, whilst negative headlines continue to hold their share of newspaper square inches, coffee with an active fund manager now and then continues puts a positive light on the general economic undercurrent.
My view is partly driven by the current political position of the UK (and to some degree the EU and US), which here at home is as much in the doldrums as its ever been, but still GDP is forecast to grow marginally in the coming years and unemployment remains at record lows – and with new projects continuing to launch with positive interest from joint venture partners and investors alike, it suggests to me that we’re a robust society that will ultimately keep the UK on track in the long term. And that’s something to be upbeat about!
On the property front, recent figures show that remortgaging is running well above average, suggesting people are staying invested in their assets, and first time buyers are taking out mortgages at a level that outweighs movers and downsizers. With the Winter lull at an end there was an uptick last month in general SE property sales, and exceptional spurts continued to appear in some of the regional cities. The bottom line is that everyone fundamentally wants to carry on with their lives, their businesses, and their investments, and when I read tomorrow’s downbeat headlines I’ll take comfort that there are just as many good headlines!
