Invesco Perpetual's Butcher snaps up Spanish stocks

Invesco Perpetual's Stephanie Butcher has moved overweight Spain and added names from Ireland and Portugal to the European Equity Income fund, taking the view stocks are "too cheap" and investors are over-paying for core, defensive names.

The fund manager said the wider market falls in periphery nations have created valuation opportunities, particularly for companies with an international or export-led stance. In her portfolio she has rotated out of many of the defensives she supported last year and into more cyclical names. The fund's exposure to Spain has grown from 9.9% last year, when the country was 8% of the index, to 12% at the end of June, when Spain's index position shrank to 6.3%. "When the sovereign risks emerged earlier this year we found ourselves pushed into Spain. The market has been focused on high qual...