I think UK shares could offer investors decent protection in the event of a stock market crash. But that’s not the reason I’ve been buying them lately.

In my opinion, valuations are more attractive in the case FTSE100 and FTSE250 than elsewhere. And for those who haven’t done so yet, now might be a good time to take a look.

Artificial intelligence

The main risk associated with the stock market today is artificial intelligence (AI). The substantial question is whether investments such as Metaplatforms what you do will pay off in the end.

There are concerns that they will not do this. I’m concerned about Mark Zuckerberg’s statement that the company spends money because it fears the risk of being left behind (not because it wants to).

If the pace of investment in artificial intelligence slows down, it will be bad for Nvidiaas the share price reflects much higher expectations. But the effects are likely to be much broader.

Passive tracking funds S&P500 or global stock exchange are very popular nowadays. And that means a decline in the prices of larger companies could trigger a broader decline in share prices.

Unfavorable

Michael Burry makes this argument. In a recent interview, he advised him to think about buying U.S. health care stocks, which have been out of favor with investors lately.

I understand the reasoning, but I’m hesitant. WITH Johnson and Johnson at all-time highs and Danaher trading at a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 46, there isn’t much I would like to sell.

Moreover, these stocks are still included in the S&P 500 index, making them susceptible to a knock-on effect on passive funds. Given my own investments, I think the UK is a better place to look.

In recent years, the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 have received much less attention than the S&P 500. And while this is to some extent justified, in my opinion it provides better opportunities.

Long-term value

I wrote a lot this year about Greggs (LSE:GRG) and how investors paid little attention to its long-term prospects. But my view on this is starting to change.

I still think future growth is likely to be narrow. The company likely has the potential to grow its store count by little more than 15%, and frail sales growth compared to the same period this year is a risk.

However, since the beginning of the year, the company’s shares have fallen 43%. I believe that a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 11 is a much more reasonable valuation of the company’s future prospects.

Increasing the number of stores by 15% should generate slightly more net income. And in that case, the company probably doesn’t need to achieve much more to justify its current price.

Failure protection

The reasons I’m looking at Greggs stock don’t really have anything to do with predicting a stock market crash. These concern the company’s prospects compared to its current valuation.

However, I think there is a chance that shares like Greggs could offer some protection if AI loses momentum and causes a widespread decline in share prices. And this is worth considering.

I’m not limiting myself to the United States – a few specific companies seem attractive to me. But overall, I think investors have good reasons to look at UK shares now.