Downing chair ponders forthcoming UK austerity

NAV down 6.7%

The chaos of the past two months in stock markets, particularly the UK's, raises the question of whether austerity is now unavoidable, according to Hugh Aldous, chair of Downing Strategic Micro-Cap Investment trust.

In the trust's half-year report, Aldous addressed the challenging macroeconomic backdrop investors have faced, commenting that "the world is going through immense distribution" and the trust's UK hunting ground "is hopefully recovering from some disorder". He referenced the now abandoned Mini Budget, which attempted to "shake up a tired economy" but the scars of which will be felt for a long time. "Financing that much intended change was just not available at going rates. For that and other reasons over recent years there has been damage which will endure, and repairing the UK's tired...