Salient to Investors:

Scotland’s biggest money managers do not expect the Europe economic slump to end anytime soon. Ben Ritchie at Aberdeen Asset Mgmt expects years of zero or little growth, with strong companies getting stronger and weak companies getting weaker.

Greig Bryson at Scottish Widows Investment Partnership looks for companies that can grow irrespective of the macroeconomic environment, like health-care and increasing international trade and regulation. Bryson is underweight European banks, which have yet to recognize bad debts, unlike in the US and UK.

Mikhail Zverev at Standard Life Investments said Europe has provided some of the best stock performances of 2012 even as investors speculated about the possible disintegration of the euro.

In 2012, the Stoxx Europe 600 is up 5.3 percent versus a 4.8 percent gain in FTSE 100 and the 1.1 percent gain in the S&P 500 Index.

Read the full article at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-14/scottish-funds-hunt-stocks-to-beat-pessimism-enduring-into-2013.html