Brazier: UK equities can rise 17% in 2011

Threadneedle's Simon Brazier said UK equities are set to rise 17% in 2011 as favourable policies from government and reasonable valuations leave plenty of upside for shares.

The manager of the £1.3bn Threadneedle UK fund, and head of UK equities at the firm, said the government’s support of corporates, coupled with healthy earnings growth from UK companies, should push share prices up sharply from current levels. “We are forecasting earnings growth close to 17% for 2011 as a whole and, with the market starting from a reasonable valuation level, share prices should be able to rise in line with this growth,” he said. UK shares have lost ground in 2011, with the FTSE 100 down marginally from 5,900 at the start of the year. The index is currently trading just...