Neptune's Burnett: EU must take 'stronger' action in H1 2011

Neptune's Rob Burnett says the EU authorities will be pushed to take stronger action in the first half of next year to shore up the sovereign states and European banks.

Burnett says the sovereign default risk which has put pressure on Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Belgium and Italy this year and led to relative underperformance in the financials sector, will weigh on the markets in 2011. “The market is likely to push for a more substantial policy response than has been agreed so far to alleviate sovereign debt pressures,” Burnett, head of European equities and manager of the European Max Alpha and European Opportunities funds, says. “This is most likely to happen in the first half of the year as financing requirements pick up.” Meanwhile, Burn...