By Ben Baris
St. Louis Fed President James Bullard told reporters on Tuesday that he believes Brexit's impact on the U.S. will ultimately "be close to zero." For now, C-suite executives at middle-market companies in the U.S. have the decision on their minds.
In a survey conducted by the National Center for the Middle Market of 589 companies with annual gross revenues between $10 million and $1 billion, 28 percent said that the U.K. vote will have a "very" or "extremely" significant impact on their businesses. Thirty-one percent replied that Brexit would not have a very significant impact, while another 20 percent see no impact. The U.S. may stand to gain as these firms decide where to allocate capital, results of the survey, conducted July 1-7, indicate. While the majority of companies see business investment remaining the same across regions, 26 percent percent anticipate they will slightly or significantly increase business investment in the U.S. On the flip side, 28 percent expect to slightly or significantly decrease investment in the U.K. "I'm sort of surprised to see that Asia is less of a winner in this 'if money is coming out of the U.K., then where is it going'," says Thomas Stewart, executive director of the Columbus, Ohio-based NCMM. "Will it indeed work out this way? Time will tell, but the early reactions are that it looks like the United States picks up what the United Kingdom loses."