Brazier: AstraZeneca and BP can drive returns this year

Anna Fedorova and Julia Rampen report from Investment Week’s recent Senate Investment Conference

The real value in UK equities is now in mega-cap stocks such as BP and AstraZeneca: names which could drive the market this year, according to Simon Brazier, head of UK equities at Threadneedle.

Brazier manages the group's flagship £1.7bn UK fund, which is 75% invested in FTSE 100 stocks, with top ten holdings including GlaxoSmithKline, Unilever, and Imperial Tobacco. BP is the manager's top holding. "Stocks such as AstraZeneca and BP could drive the market; BP is one of the few remaining deep value opportunities," he said. "Mid-cap is a difficult place to be if things start to go wrong. If things get tricky, this is a fund that will not embarrass you [as an investor]." Brazier looks for buying opportunities where market inefficiencies lead to companies being mispriced, but s...