Video: FTSE can go higher, says Andrew Bell of the respected Witan Trust He said that while America has increased the number of companies that pay a dividend, the laws there still make it preferable for companies to do share buy back rather than pay out cash to shareholders in the form of dividends. "Emerging markets offer a growing number of options for income seekers," he said. The UK also looks good with several companies growing their dividend. The FTSE 100 continued to rally this week climbing ever closer to its all-time high of 6930, reached just before New Year's Eve in 1999 shortly before the dotcom party ended. The market has now nearly doubled since lows seen during the recession; the blue chip index bottomed out at 3512 on March 3, 2009. The Witan Trust has nearly half of its portfolio made up of UK companies. Mr Bell believes that although the economic outlook is not looking rosy, it is less volatile. He said that time should be on investors side - if they take the long term view. "The UK economy and the UK stock market are not really correlated, so if investors are prepared to ride out a bit of volatility then there are gains to be made," he said. Following the FTSE 100 rally stock picking will be more important, but I believe it has got further to go. It is still a couple of hundred points off its all-time high, while other markets - such as the S&P 500 in the US - have already surpassed their all time highs some time ago.