A stout contrarian

Conventional wisdom has it that investors should now move back into UK shares and lessen risk by cutting holdings in emerging markets. But quite the opposite course in being pursued by one of the UK’S most followed managers.

Step forward, contrarian Bruce Stout, manager of the £1.5 billion Murray International Trust, who proclaims that he’s never had less exposure to the UK market – and never so much in emerging markets.

He says a growing dividend culture in emerging markets means that the manager can find high-yielding companies beyond the UK. Markets, he argues, have shifted in the past few decades, particularly when it comes to finding high-yielding opportunities in bonds and equities.

“Twenty years ago”, he told the Trustnet website last week, “I had 45 per