OUTLOOK 2013: What next for Europe?

OUTLOOK 2013

Despite being among the best performing sectors of the past year, many asset allocators have been underweight Europe or had no exposure at all until very recently.

And it is easy to see why. The eurozone debt crisis has rumbled on, with many southern European nations nearing default or appealing to the ECB and IMF for bailouts. However, there was a turning point in the summer when ECB president Mario Draghi delivered the now famous quote, that the central bank would do "whatever it takes" to save the euro. The Europe ex UK sector was up 20.7% over the past year to 23 November, according to Morningstar. But there has been little stimulus since the Draghi statement and politicians continue to argue over the best way to sort peripheral Europe and i...