Head of communications at AWD Chase de Vere Patrick Connolly agreed that the situation in Ireland would have little affect on the everyday investor unless Spain is dragged into the affair.
He said: "At the moment I think the effect will be very limited unless the worse case scenario occurs. It seems that the situation has been handled as effectively as it could have been, and now it's a matter of what happens next."
"The Greek crisis had very little impact unless managers were actually invested in the country, and I think the direct impact of the Irish crisis will be similarly minor. However, if more and more countries are put in danger, this could change."
According to Connolly, even if the impact is bigger than expected, responsible investors should already be protected. He added: "Ideally, investors should be sitting with a balanced portfolio. If this is the case, then losses should be relatively small. However, if they are invested in risk chasing managers who are overweight in certain sectors, for example financials, that’s a different story."
Connolly's comments echo those of managing director of Nexus Independent Financial Advisers Kerry Nelson, who said in a Trustnet article last week that competent investors would have gotten out of Irish stocks long ago. Financial Express data shows that the Ireland has failed to recover since the lows of the global financial crisis in March last year.
Performance of Ireland over the past 3-yrs
Source: Financial Express Analytics
Multi-manager Francois Zagame, who heads up the Skandia Global Dynamic Equity fund, was even more cynical of the press coverage that the story has received.
He commented: "I think that the press in the UK are so concerned with what’s going on in Ireland because the two countries are neighbours and a bailout is likely to affect the tax payer in the short-term. If this wasn't the case we wouldn't hear so much about it."