Greece Has Already Cost Investors $897 Billion This Year
By Roxana Zega and Sofia Horta E Costa
How much has the Greece saga cost European equity investors? Try $897 billion, more than the value of benchmark indexes in Spain, Portugal and Ireland, combined.
What had been a record year is in danger of turning sour, with the Stoxx Europe 600 Index going from its biggest quarterly gain since 2009 to the worst month, June, in two years. A third of this year?s rally has been lost as the gauge dropped 7.8 percent from its all-time high on April 15.
With debt negotiations close to breaking down, some officials view Thursday?s meeting of finance ministers as a last chance to seal a Greek bailout. Any resolution would be good news to fund managers who were expecting to enjoy the fruits of Mario Draghi?s stimulus program in 2015.
?It?s like a TV show with a really bad storyline that just drags on season after season,? said Rosamunde Price, who helps oversee about $14 billion as chief investment strategist at Seven Investment Management in London. ?The saga is muddling everything and getting in the way of what was supposed to be Europe?s true turnaround year.?
As the region?s equity volatility reached a record high versus the U.S., investors increasingly turned to cash. Greece?s ASE Index, which was among the best gainers in western Europe this quarter through May, is now this year?s worst performing in the world.