2007 will be a year for the stock market's big players, including Microsoft, JP Morgan and General Electric, according to Gerry Keenan, chief executive of Irish Life Investment Managers (ILIM).

Speaking yesterday at the bank's 2007 personal finance briefing, Mr Keenan said that for the first time ever some large household names were starting to look cheap and that as a result the bank would be changing its investment strategy to suit this transformation.

"These stocks have not been performing at the top of the market, but they are now relatively cheap," he said, adding that over the past year the average capitalisation of the stocks in the bank's own investment portfolios had been rising.

This compares with a 2006 investment strategy that focused on small and medium-sized companies with higher risk, a switch Mr Keenan said he believes is part of a change in the risk equation as the global economy slows.

Still, Mr Keenan said the Irish economy is forecast to grow by 5.6 per cent this year, compared with 1.8 per cent growth in the euro zone and as a result there is value to be had in the Irish stock market.

He said some of the larger names, such as CRH and Grafton, represent potential value for this year. ILIM itself invests about 20 per cent of its portfolio in Ireland.

ILIM's own active managed pension fund grew 12.8 per cent last year, while Irish equities were up 30.3 per cent, and property gained 28.3 per cent. Property is expected to yield returns of about 8 per cent over the next three years, he said.