Global equities are benefiting from an increasingly positive outlook by investors, according to the latest BoA Merrill Lynch Survey of Fund Managers.Just over half of fund managers, 55%, say they’re overweight in global equities, the largest proportion since July 2007. Just last month, only 40% of fund managers said they were overweight in international stocks. The additional assets appear to have come from bonds—54% of fund managers are now underweight in bonds, from 47% in December.
A corresponding proportion of fund managers, 55%, expect the global economy to get stronger this year, and almost three fourths of fund managers expect inflation to rise. These factors create a “potent case for equity investment,” noted Gary Baker, head of European equity strategy at
Howard J. Stock writes for Bank Investment Consultant.