Anthony Bolton
Posted: Sun Oct 05, 2008 7:41 pm
Anthony Bolton: I’m buying shares once again
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http://www.citywire.co.uk/adviser/-/new ... &ea=177267
Anthony Bolton, the legendary ex-Fidelity fund manager, says he is spending his own money to buy shares again in the market.
‘I have bought shares in the last couple of weeks for the first time for some time,’ he told the BBC Today programme. ‘I see a lot of value in certain areas of the market.’
‘I have been somebody who for quite a while has been cautious about the equity markets. In fact I started my caution about two years ago – I was a bit early. I have to say the events of the last few weeks for the first time have made me feel more optimistic that we are getting near the low in the markets.’
Other highlights from the interview:
On the financial crisis: ‘Well I have to say I haven’t seen anything quite like this and the credit crisis that led to the banking crisis has some similarities with the 1970s which I did experience but the fact that it’s global and the extent of it is quite different.’
On whether it can get worse: ‘It can certainly get worse although I think a lot of the ingredients are now there to restore confidence – at the heart of banking is confidence
On bank deposit guarantees: ‘We’ve seen that come in Ireland and one of the problems in this global world that we live in is it’s quite difficult for authorities to do it in one market and not to have effects on other markets. So I think it’s possible that will happen here as well. It would certainly restore confidence thought it might be quite a costly move.’
On investing: ‘Investing in the stock market at first looks so easy – you buy when it’s low and sell when it’s high. But when you actually live though it it’s much more difficult. All the environment tries to make you do the opposite of what it should do – it sucks you in when markets are high and the world looks wonderful.
‘I think the real lesson in times like this is not be shaken out when the environment is very uncertain because those are the conditions that make the lows in stock markets.
‘I’ve found over the years that investing is about buying the fundamentals of companies as investments. But the stock market is also a place of fashions. It is a voting machine as much as a weighing machine. So when everyone votes one way to me that suggests risks and that’s not a good thing. On the other hand, at times like the moment when people are very negative, I want to be a contrarian and go against that.’
On recession in the UK: ‘That is the reasons that share prices are so low, they already have factored in a recession.’
On the Lloyds TSB/HBOS deal: ‘My personal view on this is that it will succeed and go through on the original terms. I think most parties would like it to succeed on that basis. I think it will be a very good thing for the banking market generally and I think the combined company will be an attractive investment.’