Turbulent ride for markets

Markets face another rough ride over the next 12 months, investment managers have predicted.

Seven in ten fund managers polled by the Association of Investment Companies (AIC) believe markets will end 2012 higher, but 96 per cent said they are braced for further volatility. Expectations are shaped largely by the eurozone debt crisis, which two-thirds of managers believe represents the biggest threat to equities over the next year.

Emerging markets are viewed as the most likely outperforming region, with the US second in the list of predicted top performers. Just 4 per cent think the UK will produce the best returns and 11 per cent tip Europe.

But one in four managers says equities still represent good value, with strong company balance sheets, better-than-expected Chinese growth and improving global growth among the top reasons for optimism.