WORLDVIEW: Invested in US, UK stocks? Sleep easy. Just follow the (CEO) money

By Alec Hogg.For a week every January, the otherwise quiet Swiss ski resort of Davos transforms into an advertising billboard. All available real estate near the Congress Centre (and much far from it) becomes plastered with corporate and national messages. At significant cost to the marketers. The town earns an estimated 80% of its annual income in this seven day burst..Among the biggest marketers is services firm, PWC which hires out an expansive basement in the perfectly positioned five star Belvedere Hotel. PWC puts the space to good use on the eve of the WEF meeting when it releases results of its flagship annual global survey of CEOs..___STEADY_PAYWALL___.This year's was the 20th PWC CEO report. After 2016's dramatic changes, I gave up the privilege of attending the WEF's opening concert to attend the PWC presser. As usual it was standing room only. Once again the collated responses from 1,379 CEOs worldwide were both honest and surprising..The establishment media might have hated votes that favoured Donald Trump and Brexit, but corporate leaders see things very differently. For the third successive year, the USA topped their list of the best countries to invest in; PWC's new chairman Bob Moritz sharing with us that the US's lead over China actually expanded significantly in the latest survey..Equally, the UK's popularity as an investment destination for companies has risen sharply since Brexit. It is now rated the world's 4th most attractive investment destination by CEOs, just behind Germany and ahead of Japan. The UK enjoyed double digit growth in relative attractiveness from CEOs of Swiss and Chinese companies; with significant increases in its popularity also posted among US and German corporate leaders..Although South Africa didn't get a mention in the presser, PWC's website offers plenty of granularity on the survey. You can quickly pick up from the results that SA business bosses regard social instability, exchange rate volatility and overregulation as areas of "extreme" concern. Outside of those, they share pretty much the same challenges as most of the other respondents – skills shortages and innovation topping the list..So what are we to make of this?.Primarily that whatever his other failings, at this stage Trump is perceived as being really good for US business. For as long as the honeymoon lasts, the US equity market will continue enjoying support from investors. Last night the S&P 500 index posted a fresh record taking Wall Street investors' post-Trump victory bonus past 9%..And despite yesterday's well publicised court setback for Theresa May's government, the UK is perceived by CEOs as a better place for fresh investment that it was before the Brexit vote. So don't believe everything you read – especially when well-intentioned commentators have the potential to affect your pocket. Judging by the CEOs' assessments, both US and UK company stocks offer a rather attractive home for your cash right now.

WORLDVIEW: Invested in US, UK stocks? Sleep easy. Just follow the (CEO) money

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