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Annual financial statements
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32
| Management Report
"Because it has a sound
economic structure and
its industry and exports
are highly competitive,
Austria is in a position to
take full advantage of the
international upturn."
in which the economic upturn has not yet fully run its course and
the upswing will continue into 2012, shares and tangible assets
are generally better, partly because the price trend in the energy
and agricultural sectors is going up. In that case an investment in
tangible assets is, of course, a good course of action.
Firstly the bulls come
Shares have already risen sharply in recent months. Can it
continue upwards?
We see further gains on the ATX. This year
we expect the index to go in the direction of 3,200 points, as a
very moderate valuation. In the German share index, the DAX,
there is still upside, as in the case of Eurostoxx 50 or Standard
& Poor’s or in emerging markets. We believe that equity invest-
ments are very interesting – specifically in the first half of the year,
I'd like to emphasise that. In the second half of the year the bears
could already be lurking and they could fire off an occasional
attack against the bulls. This possibility cannot be excluded in the
second half of the year. The strongest economic impetus should
nevertheless occur in the first half of the year.
What other investments could then be worthwhile in the near
future: commodities, property, art?
Why not? These are all tan-
gible assets, and I think that 2011 is generally the year of tangible
assets. This should also continue beyond 2011. I believe that a
relatively long-term investment could be made in these trends
over the next few years, as a good mix in a very broadly diversi-
fied portfolio.
What type of investment funds can be recommended for this
year?
For example equity funds investing in emerging markets, in
Eastern Europe. It should also be remembered that, in emerging
markets, investors can also benefit from the positive performance
of currencies when holding positions in bond funds. Commod-
ity holdings are also interesting. I believe that the energy sector
in particular could see quite a lot of potential over the next few
years. This could be used, for example, to round off a portfolio –
depending on tolerance for risk, which is always the top priority.
Naturally, care needs to be taken: for some people, an emerging-
market fund is out of the question, because price fluctuations of
10 or 20 per cent cannot be tolerated, because this would stretch
nerves to breaking point. For others, a price drop of this magni-
tude would be welcomed as an opportunity to buy.
Thank you very much for the interview.