Chart of the week: Brexit crimps investment

<p>Foreign companies and governments are simply not investing in British assets as they used to. This is worrying because modern economic growth relies on technological transfer, or learning from others and improving on it. The benefits of this transfer are clear from the productivity data - firms with inward investment from overseas are almost twice as productive as firms without any link to foreign investment. So, a slowdown in this area means a slowdown in productivity; a big worry.</p>
22 February 2019

Foreign companies and governments are simply not investing in British assets as they used to. This is worrying because modern economic growth relies on technological transfer, or learning from others and improving on it. The benefits of this transfer are clear from the productivity data - firms with inward investment from overseas are almost twice as productive as firms without any link to foreign investment. So, a slowdown in this area means a slowdown in productivity; a big worry.  Edward Smith, Rathbones’ head of asset allocation research, discussed his concerns about foreign investment and considered the UK’s economic future post Brexit at our annual investment conference.