Pharmaceuticals are a safe haven during US slowdown

As US economic growth slows, the best prospects for investors will be in pharmaceutical and consumer staples, according to Simon Laing, manager of the Newton American fund. Laing says: "We are overweight pharmaceutical companies as they will not be impacted by a US slowdown. If consumers start feeling the pinch of higher interest rates at 5.25% it is unlikely they will stop spending on medicines. They will stop spending money in the retail sector instead." One example in Laing's portfolio is drug company Wyeth, which saw its profits increase by 9% to $5.2bn for the second half of 2006. ...