Gartside and Wilde: UK's AAA rating is at risk

J.P. Morgan's Nick Gartside and Barings' Alan Wilde have warned the UK's AAA-status is at risk of downgrade following the shock contraction in the second quarter's GDP.

Moody's, which placed the UK on a negative outlook in February, and Standard & Poor's, which said in April "materially weaker economic growth" could lead to "downward pressure" on the rating, could be the first to strip the UK of the highest rating following the fall in output in Q2, revealed yesterday. The economy shrunk by 0.7% in the three months to June, much higher than analyst expectations of a 0.2% contraction. Gartside, manager of the£483m JPM Strategic Bond fund, told the FT he believes the AAA rating looks "vulnerable". "In terms of its rating and its safe haven status it...