Outbreaks of rioting across the country will not hamper the UK’s investment case, Legal & General Group PLC (LSE:LGEN) boss António Simões has assured.
There is “no correlation” between the violence seen in English towns and cities and investor appetite for the UK, the chief executive of the pension firm said Wednesday.
Quizzed after the firm’s first-half results on whether companies overseas may avoid the UK due to the riots, he added: “That’s not my view, I don’t see that.
“Most investors invest on the basis of the fundamentals of the economy.”
Riots have broken out across areas of England over the past week, prompting a wave of violence, vandalism and also looting of high street businesses.
Trade group the British Retail Consortium convened an emergency meeting for members on Wednesday morning ahead of an expected continued wave of disorder in the coming days.
The Federation of Small Businesses urged authorities and insurance firms to stand ready to help small businesses rebuild in the meantime.
With the government having committed to crack down on disorder and prosecutors signalling the use of anti-terror laws to convict rioters, Simões batted off concerns over the effects on investment.
“There is pent-up demand for investment in the UK and having political and fiscal stability is really important,” he acknowledged.
“For international investors,” he added, referencing a string of meetings with firms in Asia and the US since June, “they see the fundamentals of the UK economy, with low inflation, low unemployment and having good stability”.
“Investors are quite keen to invest in the UK.”