Themen:
Insights
29 January 2025
A growing appetite for UK equity investment was on show last week at the inaugural Deutsche Bank and Deutsche Numis UK & Ireland Conference, with a wide range of leading UK companies and major institutional investors meeting to discuss opportunities and hear from industry experts on markets, economics and the outlook for the year ahead.
Deutsche Bank’s new state-of-the-art office in the City of London was buzzing more than usual last week during the two-day dbAccess event.
More than 1,000 meetings took place, with 55 companies presenting to several hundred investors from across the UK, Europe and the US. The calibre was high, with almost every company represented by one or more C-suite executives and the majority of investor representatives being portfolio managers with the power to allocate funds.
The conference was a great showcase for the strength of London as Europe’s leading capital market, and the high interest from attendees really served to highlight the growing optimism in UK equities going into 2025.
As well as providing a forum for the scheduled company-investor meetings, there were plenty of opportunities for delegates to network with peers and make new contacts.
Dawn Singleton, Head of Corporate Access at Deutsche Bank, said the conference had been made possible through collaboration and complementary relationships among the Deutsche Bank and Deutsche Numis teams: “The dbAccess programme of conferences is a longstanding feature of our equity offering to institutional and corporate clients, but this year we have been able to bring together Deutsche Numis’ high number of UK corporate clients across a variety of sectors, complemented by the additional reach of the Deutsche Bank platform, to deliver this exciting new event,” she said. The conference was a great showcase for the strength of London as Europe’s leading capital market, and the high interest from attendees really served to highlight the growing optimism in UK equities going into 2025.
Insights from Deutsche Bank experts and the CBI
The conference was also an opportunity to hear the latest insights from Deutsche Bank experts – with presentations from Jim Reid, Global Head of Macro Research, and Sanjay Raja, Chief UK Economist – and for a Q&A session with Rupert Soames OBE, President of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).
Jim Reid outlined his view of the global economy, reflecting on the first 25 years of the 21st century and looking forward to the decades ahead. The election of Donald Trump, the growth of AI and the demographic challenges facing many developed economies were his key themes, with challenges, but also and opportunities present in all three areas.
Sanjay Raja focused on the UK’s economic outlook and injected some notes of optimism into the recent mood of unease. There is no crisis in UK gilts, he reassured the audience, but volatility could continue in the coming 12 months. And while economic growth will likely be more muted than previously expected, there will be no stagflation in the UK this year and he expects both inflation and interest rates will return to target and stabilise by early next year.
On day two, Rupert Soames OBE, President of the CBI, brought some colourful insights to the event, facing questions from moderator Nick Stockman, Head of UK Sales at Deutsche Numis, and from the conference audience.
Co-heads of Investor Relations at Deutsche Numis, Daniella McDonnell and Sarah de la Fuente, encouraged delegates to get in touch if they wanted any help in following up meetings or insights from the event.
“The conference was a huge success and we are very proud of what we have achieved,” they said. “We will be continuing to work very closely with the combined Deutsche Bank and Deutsche Numis sales teams to ensure our corporate clients are getting access to many different pools of investors across the UK, EU and US.”
For more information on the conference, please contact dbaccess.ukconference@db.com