We Are in V-Shaped Recovery, Stay in Stocks: Strategist

The recovery won't be bolstered by the consumer, like in previous recessions. Instead demand will come from a build-up of low inventories and large companies' exposure to emerging market growth, Edith Thouin, vice president of ABN Amro Private Banking said Monday.

"We do think we are in a V-shaped recovery and equities are the place to be," she said, adding that investors should still shift their focus into a more diversified portfolio.

She told CNBC investors should bet on industrial and base material companies, as well as international companies with good exposure to China, South America and other emerging market countries.

"The appetite for especially anything exposed to the growth markets in Asia, in Latin America, is still very attractive to investors and because private investors have been holding back here — they really haven't participated in this rally — it's good to lure them back into the equity markets," Thouin said.

She likes global miner BHP Billiton in the base material sector, as well as steel companies like Arcelor Mittal and ABB.

Engineering companies like Siemens and Philips also look good, according to Thouin.

Mid- and small-cap companies, which have suffered recently during the downturn, hold investment potential as they will benefit in the pickup in inventory activity as they often supply larger companies, Thouin said.

"We would focus on the high-quality companies in the mid-segment. The ones with good balance sheets; the ones that have come through the crisis well enough; and the ones that also have very high market shares and very good reputations, because they will be the preferred suppliers to these large companies as the large companies continue to merge and consolidate," she told "Strictly Money."

A recovery in industrial companies has been priced in by the market, with good earnings expected in the fourth quarter of 2009, as well as the first and second quarter of 2010, according to Thouin.

"We actually think that defensives are coming a bit back into fashion again," she said. "There will be a renewed interest in the defensives sectors, especially the ones that continue to show good earnings growth. For instance the pharmaceuticals sector but also the consumer staples (sector)."

Thouin likes Switzerland's Nestle and Mead Johnson Nutrition in the U.S.

Luxury goods producers like Richemont, who reported good figures Monday, are attractive as "there is this huge demand from Asian consumers, especially for Western products," she said.