BMO, AllianceBernstein Join Pound Selloff as Brexit Risks Grow
- Sterling halts two-week gain as polls show ‘Leave’ taking lead
- Market underestimating chance U.K. will quit EU: BlueBay
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Polls this week showing a lead for the campaign to take the U.K. out of the European Union were a cue for Steven Bell to sell the pound against the dollar, after previously trading it “on the long side.”
Bell, a London-based macro strategist at BMO Global Asset Management, which oversees about $230 billion, was not alone as sterling endured its biggest weekly slide versus the euro in more than a year. Daniel Loughney, London-based portfolio manager at AllianceBernstein Ltd., which manages about $456 billion, said his main trade into the June 23 referendum is “short pound versus euro.” A short position is a bet an asset’s price will decline.