Major Fund Houses Turn More Bullish On Equities - HSBC Poll

Tom Burroughes

6 July 2012

Global fund managers are looking to shift into equities from bonds in the third quarter of this year, according to a survey of 14 fund management companies by HSBC.

The survey found that 40 per cent of respondents are overweight equities for the third quarter, compared with 25 per cent taking an overweight stance in the previous three months. Only 10 per cent of fund managers held bearish views on equities for Q3, down from 25 per cent in Q2, the survey found.

Some 56 per cent of fund managers are neutral on cash in the third quarter, reflecting a relatively optimistic market outlook.

“The survey shows an improvement in investment sentiment across global fund managers. With fears of a distintegration of Europe’s currency union somewhat abated, fund managers are starting to see opportunities in equities based on valuation,” Vineet Vohra, HSBC’s regional head of wealth development, Asia-Pacific.

By contrast, global fund managers surveyed by Bank of America Merrill Lynch in early June were at their most downbeat on the prospects for the global economy since December last year, taking an emphatically low-risk asset allocation.

The HSBC survey found that seven out of 10 fund managers were bullish on North American equities; fund managers also turned more positive on Asia.

The fund managers in the survey were: AllianceBernstein, Allianz Global Investors; Baring Asset Management; BlackRock; Eastspring Investments; Fidelity Investment Management; Franklin Templeton Investments; HSBC Global Asset Management; Invesco Asset Management; Investec Asset Management, JP Morgan Asset Management, PIMCO, Schroders Investment Management, and Société Générale.