“It’s time to shift to equity’, is the overwhelming consensus. The last couple of years have been bruising for equity investors. In the six months to September 2013 corporate earnings fell 9.9% while in the six months ending in September 2012 earnings were down 13.3% according to an analysis by Acuity Stockbrokers.
In Sri Lankan markets 2014 should be better than 2013, but not overwhelmingly so.
Echelon’s Investor’s Guide 2014 looks at this from the global as well as local policy point of views. Firstly the Federal Reserve’s explosive money tactics are being scaled back and this could be an event with a deep impact on Sri Lanka. At a roundtable discussion with some of Sri Lanka’s sharpest economic minds it emerged that 2014 will be unchartered territory. Public policy missteps may also compound challenges.
For investors in stocks prospects should be better in 2014. Inflation is lower and that opens the cautious prospect of loosening monetary policy here, if it can be done without spooking the foreign investors in local treasury instruments. Some of Sri Lanka’s top money managers’ advice provides unprecedented guidance and a behind the scenes look at how they work.