Institutional investors are buying European and emerging market stocks while selling US equities and holding back some cash, that’s according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s latest Global Fund Manager Survey.
The survey, which polled 203 panelists with $593 billion of assets under management between April 6 and April 12 appears to show a cautious mood among institutional investors. The average cash balance and among respondents rose to 4.9% during April from 4.8% in the month before, which is itself significantly above the 10-year average of 4.5%. Such a high cash weighting at a market peak is, according to BOA’s chief investment strategist Michael Hartnett, a contrarian buy signal for equities.
