Schroders: New transparency around European banks a positive for investors

Schroders: New transparency around European banks a positive for investors. James Sym, a fund manager at Schroders in London, says the new level of transparency is the best news to come out of the recent stress tests. Now that the ECB will take over supervision of the euro zone's largest banks from national authorities, it can apply common, harmonized definitions of asset quality across countries. We'll be in a position to compare apples with apples across European banks, which is exciting.Sym, who manages a £300 million ($483 million) European equity fund, is planning an early start tomorrow, and has his eyes on medium-sized banks in Italy and Spain. On these stocks, I'm prepared to risk perhaps 1% of the fund, he says. I want to give myself a 50% chance of doubling my money, and a 50% chance of losing 30%. Looking ahead, more fundamentally the stress test could represent a cathartic moment for European banks, the fund manager says. Suddenly, we can trust them. (VIEW LINK)