Marlborough's Hallett: UK equities require greater vigilance

Faces challenges in 2018

The World Bank and International Monetary Fund have both upgraded their global growth forecasts and an improving international backdrop should benefit many UK companies that generate a large proportion of their earnings overseas.

The UK economy does, however, face challenges: Brexit uncertainty, a fragile government, the likelihood of further interest rate rises and the potential for higher inflation. So, there are good reasons for vigilance. But at an individual company level, we continue to identify businesses with attractive growth potential. One key area of opportunity is in companies positioned to benefit from secular growth trends. These are established long-term structural growth themes fundamentally uncorrelated to the economic cycle. UK dividends soar to record high in 2017 but beware 2018 'hangove...