‘Super bearish’ fund managers’ allocation to global stocks at record low, Bank of America survey finds

A sign for a Bank of America office is pictured in Burbank, California on August 19, 2011. Bank of America Corp plans to cut 3,500 jobs in the next few weeks as CEO Brian Moynihan tries to sort out the bank’s pile of problems on 1 trillion dollars. housing loan. REUTERS/Fred Prouser/File photo

LONDON, Sept 13 (Reuters) – Fund managers are “super bearish” with average allocations to cash at the highest since 2001 and allocations to global equities at a record low, according to Bank of America’s (BofA) monthly survey of global fund managers for September.

The results come even as MSCI’s gauge of shares around the world (.MIWO00000PUS) is up 3% so far in September, although the index is still down 16% this year after a rough first half.

The survey also marks a return to doom and gloom after August’s iteration found investors bearish but no longer “apocalyptic” looking. Read more

BofA, which polled 212 investors monitoring $616 billion in assets from Feb. 2-8. September, said 72% of respondents said they expected a weaker economy next year, and the most crowded trade was long the US dollar.

The US currency is typically seen as a safe haven in times of economic difficulty.

In contrast, investors stayed away from stocks that typically rise in good times, and the survey found investors were record underweight in stocks.

They found that the net percentage of investors who said they were overweight stocks was -52% compared to -26% the previous month, a lower level than during the financial crisis.

Reporting by Alun John, editing by Danilo Masoni and David Evans

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