Pound and UK assets to remain volatile in election lead-up



The pound and UK financial assets will be volatile in the run-up to Britain’s first December general election since 1923 and will remain so if there’s another hung parliament, according to deVere Group.
Nigel Green, founder and chief executive, said a victory for Jeremy Corbyn and Labour would do little to inspire confidence for the sterling or UK financial assets, and it was far from guaranteed Boris Johnson would be able to secure a majority in the House of Commons.
“The Brexit Party will use the fact that Mr Johnson did not deliver Brexit by October 31 – something on which he staked his whole premiership,” Green said.
“The remain vote could also be split between Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the Greens and the Scottish National Party.”
Green said a hung parliament was the most likely outcome as the country had not seen political fragmentation at this scale before.
“Should grinding deadlock continue, the UK economy would still haemorrhage investment and confidence,” Green said.
“The fallout of Brexit has cost the UK three and a half years of lost opportunity and many, many tens of billions of pounds. This would only intensify with another hung parliament.”
“Meanwhile Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party will campaign on the most radical, left-wing manifesto in more than a generation.”
The only current option for investors was to make sure they were diversified across asset classes, sectors, regions and currencies.
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