Sleath sees cheap opportunities in volatile markets

Continental European Focus manager believes Europe has been a bear market for the past year in macro terms and suspects the beginning of a recession

Collins Stewart's Continental European Focus fund is currently focusing on finding opportunities thrown up by the volatile market. The £26m fund is headed up by Rod Sleath, who believes the market is currently presenting good opportunities at cheap valuations. In terms of macro background, Sleath believes Europe has been in a bear market for the last year. "The question is about when it stops and how bad it gets," he said. "But European markets are cheap, trading on 11 times last year's earnings, and we see a lot of potential in the market for the medium-term investor. For the short...