Himsworth who is head of equities at Gartmore, points to a number of defensive sectors including pharmaceuticals, as well as IT and engineering sectors as places where UK investors can find value at the moment.
"When you get such a scale of movement in a very quick period people tend to sell things that they can sell very quickly and that tends to be half decent stocks or very liquid ones. Pharmaceutical companies have suffered as everybody else has, however in the longer term there is some great value to be had here and AstraZeneca is a great example of that."
Performance of AstraZeneca over 1-yr
Source: Financial Express Analytics
Looking at engineering companies, Himsworth says that some of the decent quality engineers that are exposed to overseas markets are looking attractive. Here he points to the likes of Melrose and Charter both who whom he says are offering very good returns.
Performance of Melrose over 1-yr
Source: Financial Express Analytics
He is also looking at new opportunities which he believes are attractive to those looking for income in the UK.
"There are new opportunities coming from some of the IT companies which are offering really good growth. They have the prospects for very strong balance sheets and have good growth in dividends," he explains.
He points out that whilst some of the IT companies in the UK are relatively small businesses, they have survived not only the tech bubble but also this recession and are therefore very good businesses.
"Things like Micro Focus are a great niche operator, they have a very high level of overseas earnings and strong balance sheets."
Performance of Micro Focus over 1-yr
Source: Financial Express Analytics
Despite his positive stance on the UK, Himsworth still believes there is some value in having a small weighting to overseas exposure, although says you can get this exposure in the UK market already.
"It will be a good bet to overweight slightly your overseas earnings. However I do not think we have to be so worried about the UK stocks," he says.
"Seven of the top ten FTSE 100 companies report in foreign currency anyway – Unilever reports in Euros. Investors need to make sure they match their liabilities with the right currencies."
Performance of Unilever over 1-yr
Source: Financial Express Analytics
Himsworth says he tries to look at the companies no-one else is looking at and says over the years it has been more rewarding to operate on the second tier in the mid 250 and small cap bottom end of the FTSE.
"Many of the large cap stock and large cap sectors are driven by factors outside of management control. When you move down the market cap spectrum generally a lot of companies move because of what management companies do. I think there is a lot more work you can do and it is easier to identify value as a consequence of that," he explains.
"Many mid 250 businesses are household names and have gone through the growing pains and there is less inherent risk in investing in them and still very exciting growth opportunities."
It is a strategy that seems to have work, over the long term Himsworth has outperformed his peer group over a three, five, seven and nine year period.
Performance of Leigh Himsworth vs peers over 9-yrs
Source: Financial Express Analytics
Looking ahead Himsworth says he is planning for recovery instead of a double dip.
"There are huge questions marks hanging over us at the moment, I do not know where the market is going, certainly in the near term. It is best to stick to decent good quality companies which have a bit of a niche," he says.
Himsworth says he will be avoiding construction companies unless consolidation takes off and also support service companies in the near term.
"Although if there is any serious share price movement in the support service industry I would be tempted to look at those long term on the basis that more things will be outsourced over the next few years," he concludes.