FidelityConnects: UK & Europe Market Trends: What They Mean for Global Investors

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<b>Subtitles are AI Generated</b>

 

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Hello, and welcome to Fidelity Connects.

 

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I'm Pamela Ritchie. Ten years on from Brexit, will investors of the

 

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future be investing in a much more integrated Europe which includes the UK?

 

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Does the shake-up in today's UK political scene provide an investment

 

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entry point? It appears UK Prime Minister heir apparent, Andy

 

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Burnham, is pledging to transfer powers out of London and

 

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into more municipal and regional economies.

 

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A reversal of Westminster-centric rule how will markets digest

 

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Burnham's pledge overall?

 

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On the eve of important summits like NATO's annual in Turkey

 

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does this moment mark a pivotal time in the century for European

 

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investment in sectors like defence, banking, and, of course, AI?

 

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Joining us here today live from London to discuss these topics is Fidelity

 

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investment director Tom Stevenson.

 

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Tom, great to see you again. How are you?

 

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I'm very well, Pamela. Thanks very much for having me back on the show.

 

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It's good to be here.

 

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We're always delighted to have you and what a moment for it.

 

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I mean, there are many moving parts. Shall

 

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we begin with a bit of a reflection on Brexit?

 

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It has been 10 years and I think a lot of people, the discussion is

 

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where were you when it happened? We all watched the pound sink and then shoot

 

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back up again, actually.

 

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What is sort of your takeaways at this point as you've been living it

 

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and reporting on it?

 

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There were different angles, aren't there?

 

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I think from an economic perspective I

 

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think there is, you know, fairly broad agreement now

 

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that Brexit has not been a huge success for the

 

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UK economy.

 

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I mean, the proponents of Brexit will claim that it just wasn't executed

 

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well enough and the remainers will claim that it should never

 

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have happened in the first place. There'll always be that disagreement.

 

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I think that the UK economy is probably smaller than it would have

 

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been were it not for Brexit.

 

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I think in market terms, you know,

 

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I wrote about this recently and I think it's interesting because

 

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clearly the UK stock market has performed relatively

 

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poorly over the last 10 years, certainly compared to

 

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the US stock market.

 

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I think it's quite difficult to really point the finger at Brexit and say

 

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that's the reason why the UK stock market has done

 

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badly. Many of the factors

 

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which have contributed to the poor performance were

 

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already happening in 2016.

 

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For example, you know, UK pension funds were already

 

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reducing their exposure to the domestic stock market in favor of

 

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global exposure.

 

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The UK pension funds had something like

 

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40% of their assets held in UK stocks, it's now about 5%.

 

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There's been a massive diminution in importance of the

 

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UK stock market. I think that was already happening,

 

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I think what was also already happening was this preference

 

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for investors to invest in

 

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growth sectors, particularly technology which is an area which

 

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the UK, even at the time, was not particularly strong in.

 

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I think you can point the finger at Brexit but I think it's a more

 

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nuanced situation than just pointing the finger and blaming Brexit

 

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for what's happened.

 

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For sure, because many things happened at the same time.

 

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There was a pandemic to get through. The world shifted in many different ways

 

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all at the same time. Is it important to take a look

 

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from here where some further integration with

 

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Europe comes back in, or not?

 

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I mean, perhaps it doesn't.

 

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You certainly see the EU discussing what they need to change to perhaps

 

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include new neighbours.

 

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Ukraine's working towards it, we know that story there.

 

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It also is retooling itself, to an extent, to

 

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address the world that it lives in today.

 

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Is there a thought that the UK might come back in almost as if it was joining

 

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for the first time an organization that is also shifting itself?

 

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I think there's been a shifting appreciation

 

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of the benefits of membership of an

 

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organization such as the European Union.

 

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The geopolitical landscape has changed out of all recognition

 

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in 10 years and Europe needs to be as strong as it

 

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can be in those circumstances.

 

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The UK economy is still a very significant large economy.

 

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The UK's armed forces while diminished are still very

 

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significant and have expertise which would be extremely useful to

 

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a European armed force.

 

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I think that there is a desire probably on both sides to have some

 

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sort of closer integration. It's still politically

 

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sensitive but it is less politically sensitive than it was even just a few

 

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years ago. I mean, if you had a referendum today

 

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without a shadow of doubt the UK would not leave the EU.

 

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Now, that's not quite the same thing as saying that

 

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the UK would vote to go back into the EU,

 

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and if it did it would probably do it in different circumstances

 

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and in a different framework.

 

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This is a long process, this is not going to happen in the next three,

 

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five years. Frankly, if it happens in my lifetime I'll be quite surprised.

 

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But I do think that the UK is going to get closer to Europe.

 

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I'll just push back on that point a little bit because it seems like the heir

 

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apparent prime minister, Andy Burnham, who will come in to replace Keir Starmer

 

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as leader of the UK, is pushing for

 

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to push through agendas faster.

 

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Your words, perhaps Keir Starmer when

 

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the sort of chips fall was not bold enough in pushing through

 

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new agendas to address a new world, a shifting world.

 

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I mean, every country is dealing with this. Every country is trying to shift

 

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and change their industry and make sure that it's ready and retooled so that it

 

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can protect itself, ultimately, and its economy.

 

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What will Andy Burnham, we think probably the next prime minister, actually

 

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execute on? I think almost we need to be brought up to date on what the

 

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framework and goal is here.

 

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Andy Burnham made his first big

 

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speech as heir apparent, if you like,

 

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today, just a couple of hours ago.

 

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He did broadly set out a kind of 10-year

 

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agenda. It's not so very different from what the

 

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last two years Labour government, I think, would like to have achieved.

 

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I think the focus is slightly different. The previous government was really

 

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focused on trying to create growth in the

 

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economy. It has signally failed to do that and I think that is one of

 

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the reasons why two years after achieving

 

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a very big landslide victory in

 

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the general election it is now extremely unpopular as a government,

 

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which is why we've got the change that we have got.

 

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I think that Andy Burnham's focus is more of a traditional,

 

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if you like, left-wing view of the world.

 

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He's talking about a massive expansion in council

 

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house building, for example. Much needed, the UK has

 

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failed to build enough houses for not years but decades.

 

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That's one thing that he's promised to do.

 

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He's talked about skills and retooling the

 

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economy more to reindustrialize

 

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the economy, creating more of a sort of, I would say a German style

 

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economy where apprenticeships are as highly

 

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valued as a university education, for example.

 

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That's huge, right?

 

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Just take a stab, tell us what foreign students coming to

 

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UK universities was worth to the economy.

 

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I mean, at one point, that was a huge chunk.

 

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It was known for university education.

 

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To shift that slightly would be pretty massive, no?

 

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Well, there was a massive change under a

 

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previous Labour government where university education

 

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which was the preserve of the few became the preserve of

 

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half the population.

 

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I don't think that experiment has really worked because I think

 

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a lot of young people went into a university education

 

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where they would have been better suited yo a more practical,

 

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vocational education.

 

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I think that what Andy Burnham is suggesting is that we rethink the

 

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education system in the UK, which, as you say, is a

 

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very big step. I think the third element that he talked about in his speech

 

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which is very significant is in terms of ownership of

 

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the productive assets of the economy, whether

 

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that's utilities, water, electricity, railways.

 

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Now, again, what he's not suggesting is that he's going to come into power and

 

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renationalize everything.

 

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And pay for it.

 

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For one thing the money is not there to do that, and everyone

 

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knows the money is not there to do that.

 

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This is an aspirational thing.

 

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This is something which is going to take 10 years.

 

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That's why he's talking about a 10-year program because

 

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all of this costs a huge amount of money.

 

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Burnham does have some form here.

 

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He made some comments a few months ago which really

 

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rattled the financial markets. He said, you know, I'm not going to be in

 

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hock to the bond market, his words, and he's

 

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been really backpedaling from that ever since.

 

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As we all know, politicians

 

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and the financial markets operate together

 

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in a close embrace and they need to trust each other.

 

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I think that where we are at the moment is the bond market is, for now, giving

 

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Andy Burnham the benefit of the doubt.

 

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He said I will stick to the previous government's fiscal rules,

 

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I will be fiscally responsible.

 

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Yes, I have ambitious plans for the economy but I will not do that

 

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in an irresponsible way. The bond market is, for now, saying, okay, we believe

 

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you, you know, let's have some more detail on those plans.

 

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Bond yields have actually fallen since the announcement of

 

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Keir Starmer's resignation and since it became clear that Burnham was

 

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almost certainly going to be the next Prime Minister.

 

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Some certainty, perhaps, just being priced in where directionally

 

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things will go. Let's talk a little bit about AI within the

 

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UK. You've mentioned a number of pieces there.

 

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We seem to be at a new stage for all countries around

 

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the world who are developing aspects of AI, trying to figure out the platform

 

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for regulation. Nobody's quite sorted it out completely.

 

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There's still innovation. The next step you've written recently in

 

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The Telegraph is perhaps the picks and shovels but also those using

 

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the picks and shovels. I wonder if you can tell us more about that.

 

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On some level that's kind of every company deploying it

 

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to make things more accretive, ultimately, because you're using AI

 

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to bring down costs and up productivity.

 

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Is that where you're going with that one?

 

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I think the big question facing investors at the moment is, you know,

 

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is the AI boom really an AI bubble?

 

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I think the answer to that is that there are certain elements of the

 

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AI story which are overcooked.

 

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Maybe some of the

 

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semiconductor plays, the initial beneficiaries if you

 

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like, massive growth has been

 

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priced in to the market. I think the interesting thing from AI is

 

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that this is such

 

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a fundamental groundbreaking technology that it does change everything.

 

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The real beneficiaries of the AI

 

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boom will not necessarily be those initial companies that are

 

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building the infrastructure. They will be the companies that learn to use

 

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it effectively, exactly the same story as 25 years ago with the internet, but I

 

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think that there's also a transition going on between

 

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the initial sort of cognitive

 

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element of AI, the initial digital element, and its

 

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transfer into the physical world.

 

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I think the whole

 

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focus of the economy is going to shift from a digital-only

 

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focus more to a physical focus.

 

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I think that has enormous implications, investment implications as well,

 

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in terms of demand for not just commodities but

 

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also the kind of precision engineering,

 

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the automation, the robotics, the things that will be

 

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driven by AI in the future.

 

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The way investors need to think about this is they need to think about where

 

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is the expertise, where will people really benefit from that?

 

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For me, countries like Japan really come to the fore.

 

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I think that this is a massive opportunity for an economy like Japan's

 

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which has enormous expertise and knowledge in

 

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those areas I mentioned, precision engineering, robotics,

 

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automation, factory automation.

 

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I think it's good news for countries like your own.

 

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I think that's the commodities that will be sucked into this.

 

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Canada, Australia, South America, Latin America,

 

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emerging markets. I think it's good for some other sort of old

 

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economy economies, like the UK's, because

 

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some of the things that we are good at are more in focus now

 

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than maybe they have been for 10 years.

 

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I think this is not just a short term or a temporary shift,

 

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I think that this is a multi-year shift and a change in the

 

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balance of the economy.

 

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Which makes it more like a long term boom, a bullish, anyway,

 

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than so much of a bubble.

 

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Just to say a bit more ... there's a question coming in talking about growth

 

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specifically in the UK, also across Europe and the segments.

 

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You've mentioned precision drilling, things like robotics, other things,

 

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I guess just a further question about where you do

 

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... either types of companies or sectors where you do see growth potentially

 

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happening. I don't know if it's tied to the political regionalization of things

 

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as well but where do you see growth in the UK and Europe?

 

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I think one of the sort of key stories about Europe,

 

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and I'd include the UK in that, is that the geopolitical

 

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picture has changed so fundamentally over the last 10

 

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years that we, as a region, we need

 

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to stand on our own two feet in a way that we have not had to do in

 

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the past for obvious reasons.

 

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I think that that will demand enormous

 

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investment in defence for one thing

 

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but also more generally in just a reindustrialization

 

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of our economy, less of

 

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a focus on just sort of consuming things and more

 

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making things.

 

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Infrastructure spending, reindustrialization,

 

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defence spending, these are all sort of heavy,

 

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hard old economy type industries.

 

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A lot of those industries have just been passed over by investors for so long.

 

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For the last 10 years or so the focus has just been on technology

 

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and growth and it is now much more on the sort of physical world

 

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and value and those sectors have just been passed over.

 

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You mentioned that maybe this has an

 

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impact on the bull market and the duration of the bull market.

 

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This bull market, arguably, has been going on for about 17 years since the

 

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financial crisis. Now, if you look at the previous two bull markets in

 

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the post-war period they lasted for about 18 years, in the 1950s

 

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and '60s and then again in the '80s and '90s.

 

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Just in terms of duration you might say, well, I think

 

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this market is getting long in the tooth and it's mature and

 

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it's ready for a correction.

 

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I think that this shift in the economy, the shift in the focus of the

 

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economy has the potential to extend the bull market.

 

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I think for investors it's an interesting but also quite an exciting

 

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development.

 

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And is it possible we're just getting started?

 

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I mean, when you look at valuations, I mean, the

 

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argument is that earnings are there and they're not as expensive as you might

 

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think they would be.

 

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They're priced sort of quite well for entry points, arguably,

 

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this is what some people tell us. I mean, what do you think about that?

 

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I mean, there could be the argument that we are just getting started on some of

 

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this stuff.

 

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Yeah, I think we absolutely are just getting started on

 

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a completely transformational change in

 

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the global economy.

 

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The more I investigate and look into AI

 

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I think it has so much potential to change

 

18:18.430 --> 18:20.766

everything. Are we just getting into it?

 

18:20.766 --> 18:23.869

Possibly. Has it got a long way to run?

 

18:23.869 --> 18:27.239

Yes, absolutely, it does as a technology.

 

18:27.239 --> 18:30.509

As an investment I think it still has a way to run because I think we've got

 

18:30.509 --> 18:35.013

these rotations. It's not a straight line and one

 

18:35.013 --> 18:39.017

aspect of it will run out, others will pick up the baton and move

 

18:39.017 --> 18:43.522

on.

 

18:43.522 --> 18:47.526

I'm actually, curiously, I am more optimistic, I'm

 

18:47.526 --> 18:51.497

more bullish in the long run than

 

18:51.497 --> 18:57.703

I was earlier on in this bull market.

 

18:57.703 --> 19:01.640

Maybe it will come back to bite me, that optimism, but it just

 

19:01.640 --> 19:04.843

feels like this is a fundamental transformation.

 

19:04.843 --> 19:09.381

What is also quite interesting being

 

19:09.381 --> 19:12.518

forced through the doors here is the institutional changes.

 

19:12.518 --> 19:14.820

The global organizations are changing NATO.

 

19:14.820 --> 19:17.956

The question of what it needs to be going forward.

 

19:17.956 --> 19:22.161

There's a summit coming up with the question of whether in a way the Arctic

 

19:22.161 --> 19:26.365

will sort of be what links everything together rather than just the Atlantic

 

19:26.365 --> 19:29.234

treaty. It might be a little bit more north.

 

19:29.234 --> 19:33.505

We don't know how that's all going to work. But they are changing leadership.

 

19:33.505 --> 19:36.675

Europe is being asked to stand on his own two feet in the way the US is

 

19:36.675 --> 19:40.712

retreating. Tell us a bit about the UK in that, in sort of

 

19:40.712 --> 19:44.082

the defence area because that's the discussion that's gonna come up.

 

19:44.082 --> 19:48.453

Who's gonna be running the show here?

 

19:48.453 --> 19:52.391

I don't know who will be running the show but I think in terms of

 

19:52.391 --> 19:56.828

expertise and knowledge and know-how the

 

19:56.828 --> 20:00.232

UK has a really important role to play in that.

 

20:00.232 --> 20:03.769

I mean, our defence industries are very sophisticated.

 

20:03.769 --> 20:07.940

We have some really top notch companies in the likes of

 

20:07.940 --> 20:12.678

Rolls Royce and British Aerospace.

 

20:12.678 --> 20:16.615

Obviously, we're not alone in that, there are very significant German and

 

20:16.615 --> 20:20.085

French and Italian players in all of those markets.

 

20:20.085 --> 20:24.423

I think working together

 

20:24.423 --> 20:29.428

it's extremely powerful. Europe

 

20:29.428 --> 20:33.765

gets written off and there are good reasons why it can

 

20:33.765 --> 20:37.703

be dismissed by investors. It's a bureaucratic, it's

 

20:37.703 --> 20:39.838

a fragmented environment.

 

20:39.838 --> 20:43.775

It's not the United

 

20:43.775 --> 20:48.447

States of America

 

20:48.447 --> 20:51.450

but there are huge strengths within Europe.

 

20:51.450 --> 20:55.587

That's why I think both sides

 

20:55.587 --> 20:59.791

really are open-minded about having a much closer relationship

 

20:59.791 --> 21:05.030

because I think the UK has an awful lot to offer Europe.

 

21:05.030 --> 21:06.765

Bring us up to date on ...

 

21:06.765 --> 21:10.969

since the invasion of Ukraine the UK and other countries have been

 

21:10.969 --> 21:15.107

figuring out how they need to make sure they get energy.

 

21:15.107 --> 21:19.044

It actually hasn't just happened because of the oil crisis in the Straits

 

21:19.044 --> 21:23.115

of Hormuz right now, it's been something that's going on for four years and

 

21:23.115 --> 21:27.753

trying to make that everything from institutions

 

21:27.753 --> 21:32.190

as well as the energy that you power automobile

 

21:32.190 --> 21:36.495

manufacturers in Germany has a sustainable source of

 

21:36.495 --> 21:40.065

power that is not Russian, or is less Russian.

 

21:40.065 --> 21:41.967

How would you say that transition is going?

 

21:41.967 --> 21:44.936

I mean, there's a lot of sort of Canadian discussions and US discussions how

 

21:44.936 --> 21:48.974

LNG can get there to Europe. Those deals are being crafted

 

21:48.974 --> 21:52.878

but it is a transition, how's it going?

 

21:52.878 --> 21:56.948

Well, I would say it's probably not going

 

21:56.948 --> 21:59.885

as well as we would hope.

 

21:59.885 --> 22:04.156

I think that what the last four years has really made clear

 

22:04.156 --> 22:08.460

to Europe is that we are exposed on the

 

22:08.460 --> 22:10.195

energy front.

 

22:10.195 --> 22:14.232

We have allowed ourselves to become exposed

 

22:14.232 --> 22:18.437

because we have not taken seriously the threats which are

 

22:18.437 --> 22:21.473

now abundantly clear.

 

22:21.473 --> 22:23.208

It's not that we can't sort it out.

 

22:23.208 --> 22:27.379

You mentioned a greater

 

22:27.379 --> 22:31.416

dependence or greater sourcing of

 

22:31.416 --> 22:35.554

energy from your side of the pond to Europe, it's absolutely

 

22:35.554 --> 22:39.591

something that we have to do because we cannot rely on energy

 

22:39.591 --> 22:43.862

coming from either Russia or the Middle East

 

22:43.862 --> 22:47.699

to the extent that we have allowed ourselves to in the past.

 

22:47.699 --> 22:51.069

Would you say either with this change of government or just the fact that for

 

22:51.069 --> 22:55.006

the last year countries in Europe and the UK have

 

22:55.006 --> 22:58.677

known that this is coming, that the US is retreating and that they have to step

 

22:58.677 --> 23:03.515

up and solve things like energy security and defence and so on,

 

23:03.515 --> 23:06.585

is an interesting entry point, I guess is the question.

 

23:06.585 --> 23:10.589

It does appear that governments are very much on this, obsessing

 

23:10.589 --> 23:14.659

over it, making sure that the changes and sort of the pathways for those

 

23:14.659 --> 23:17.596

changes are being crafted.

 

23:17.596 --> 23:22.501

We're not there yet but is it an interesting time to take a look?

 

23:22.501 --> 23:27.906

In investment terms, yeah, absolutely.

 

23:27.906 --> 23:34.579

While all this has been happening  the focus has been elsewhere.

 

23:34.579 --> 23:37.416

The focus is still elsewhere. I mean, I think there are very attractive

 

23:37.416 --> 23:41.820

investment opportunities in places like Japan, we

 

23:41.820 --> 23:44.423

talked about the robotics and the automation there.

 

23:44.423 --> 23:48.160

Emerging markets, to a large extent that's a commodity story.

 

23:48.160 --> 23:52.731

While all this has been going on

 

23:52.731 --> 23:54.766

Europe and the UK have been overlooked.

 

23:54.766 --> 23:57.502

They've been out of favour.

 

23:57.502 --> 24:01.506

They are significantly

 

24:01.506 --> 24:05.677

cheap, especially the UK, the UK more than the continental

 

24:05.677 --> 24:09.714

European markets. The UK is trading on

 

24:09.714 --> 24:15.954

11 or 12 times earnings. It's roughly half as expensive as

 

24:15.954 --> 24:20.492

the US market. That is not really a fair reflection of the outlook in the

 

24:20.492 --> 24:24.429

UK. There are some good companies in the UK and

 

24:24.429 --> 24:26.431

they are extremely cheap at the moment.

 

24:26.431 --> 24:30.735

I think what we're seeing is that not just overseas investors

 

24:30.735 --> 24:35.040

but also overseas businesses are really recognizing the undervaluation

 

24:35.040 --> 24:39.044

of the UK market. Hardly a week

 

24:39.044 --> 24:43.048

goes by when we don't see another significant UK company

 

24:43.048 --> 24:50.021

receive a takeover bid, usually from the US

 

24:50.021 --> 24:54.092

but not always from the US. There is a recognition that the

 

24:54.092 --> 24:57.629

UK is undervalued compared to its potential.

 

24:57.629 --> 25:00.632

It could be a fascinating moment.

 

25:00.632 --> 25:04.870

Talk a little bit about the very business forward

 

25:04.870 --> 25:07.906

changes to the European political scene, if you don't mind.

 

25:07.906 --> 25:11.877

I'm thinking of Giorgia Meloni and the discussions, she's taken a bit more

 

25:11.877 --> 25:16.047

of a leadership role in sort of pushing, I guess you'd say the integration of

 

25:16.047 --> 25:18.917

Europe. She seems to be pushing for that.

 

25:18.917 --> 25:21.353

There are other voices as well.

 

25:21.353 --> 25:25.790

I just wanted to, as we close, just get your thoughts on a slightly shifting

 

25:25.790 --> 25:29.895

political chess field,

 

25:29.895 --> 25:33.365

I guess, for that. What do you think about Europe right now in terms of

 

25:33.365 --> 25:37.035

leadership?

 

25:37.035 --> 25:42.274

I think Europe still suffers from

 

25:42.274 --> 25:44.342

fragmentation politically.

 

25:44.342 --> 25:49.581

I think the

 

25:49.581 --> 25:53.852

desire is there for closer integration and

 

25:53.852 --> 25:57.689

the need is there for closer immigration.

 

25:57.689 --> 26:03.495

I think we are still a significant way off from from where we need to be.

 

26:03.495 --> 26:07.532

Britain coming back into that debate is part

 

26:07.532 --> 26:11.770

of it but it's going to take some

 

26:11.770 --> 26:15.840

time, it's gonna take some time. Really, I think if Europe could

 

26:15.840 --> 26:19.811

focus on one thing it would just be speed of action, getting things done more

 

26:19.811 --> 26:20.779

quickly.

 

26:20.779 --> 26:24.916

Does it matter to investors that that may not happen for X

 

26:24.916 --> 26:29.220

years? I mean, every country is investing in various critical

 

26:29.220 --> 26:33.291

areas of their economy and it's going to take until the 2030s

 

26:33.291 --> 26:36.361

for it to actually come through. Can you get in now, I guess, again, is the

 

26:36.361 --> 26:39.130

investment story while everything gets sorted out.

 

26:39.130 --> 26:43.535

Yeah, I think it does matter, the slowness of delivery

 

26:43.535 --> 26:47.672

matters because I think it will lead to something of

 

26:47.672 --> 26:50.375

a discount being attached to Europe.

 

26:50.375 --> 26:54.546

There is always the doubt whether it can

 

26:54.546 --> 26:58.750

be enacted quickly enough before the world moves on again and you're

 

26:58.750 --> 27:00.752

constantly running to catch up.

 

27:00.752 --> 27:04.756

I do think that many of the Asian economies,

 

27:04.756 --> 27:09.327

the US economy, other economies are more dynamic than

 

27:09.327 --> 27:14.065

Europe. I think that to an extent that the discount

 

27:14.065 --> 27:18.236

is warranted, to an extent, I just think it's too big.

 

27:18.236 --> 27:22.474

Okay, interesting. Do investors need to worry too much about a rate

 

27:22.474 --> 27:26.411

environment? In the US they'll say, yeah, could see a little

 

27:26.411 --> 27:30.415

bit up, or even down, but it's probably not gonna be a massive begin of

 

27:30.415 --> 27:33.251

a cycle. What about in Europe?

 

27:33.251 --> 27:35.186

I think the same story.

 

27:35.186 --> 27:39.157

We saw the ECB raising interest rates by a quarter of a point

 

27:39.157 --> 27:41.960

at its last meeting.

 

27:41.960 --> 27:45.096

The world was a very different place even just a few weeks ago.

 

27:45.096 --> 27:49.801

Oil at $100 a barrel, clearly inflationary.

 

27:49.801 --> 27:53.838

The ECB was clearly concerned about that, hiked rates by

 

27:53.838 --> 27:58.309

a quarter point. I think at $70 a barrel

 

27:58.309 --> 28:01.146

the pressure is off on inflation.

 

28:01.146 --> 28:05.684

I think that we probably won't see many more

 

28:05.684 --> 28:09.654

hikes in Europe and it's quite likely that we won't see

 

28:09.654 --> 28:12.757

a hike in the UK either.

 

28:12.757 --> 28:15.226

It's fantastic. I feel like you've given us a bit of a tour.

 

28:15.226 --> 28:18.296

We really needed one of Europe right now. This is an important moment.

 

28:18.296 --> 28:21.399

Is there any final thought you'd like to leave with investors on this side of

 

28:21.399 --> 28:25.070

the pond?

 

28:25.070 --> 28:29.074

The point that I always like to make is that

 

28:29.074 --> 28:33.211

the beauty of being an investor is you don't need to focus on one area

 

28:33.211 --> 28:37.148

completely. There are opportunities all around the world.

 

28:37.148 --> 28:41.319

For me, the biggest takeaway at the moment is I just think this whole

 

28:41.319 --> 28:45.757

AI transformation, this revolution is changing everything.

 

28:45.757 --> 28:48.093

I think it extends the bull market.

 

28:48.093 --> 28:51.162

I'm actually pretty optimistic at the moment.

 

28:51.162 --> 28:53.398

Fantastic. I'd love to end on that note.

 

28:53.398 --> 28:55.133

It does seem to be coming to the fore.

 

28:55.166 --> 28:59.170

Tom Stevenson, have a great week ahead and very happy to see you again.

 

28:59.170 --> 29:00.305

All the best.

 

29:00.305 --> 29:02.941

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29:02.941 --> 29:07.245

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