Euro Stars A-rated manager: Europe's consumers are not dead

There are undoubtedly reasons to be pessimistic on Europe at the moment but the consumer sector is breaking new ground and showing strong potential despite the doom and gloom.

That is the view of Euro Stars A-rated manager Andrew Arbuthnott, lead manager on the €850 million Pioneer Funds - Top European Players fund, who explains why he has taken a large overweight position in the consumer discretionary market.

His fund, which he has run since July 2001, has returned 31.4% over the past three years. Over the same period, its benchmark, the MSCI Europe TR, rose 27.2% in euro terms.