The fund manager's November Investment Strategy said that while the economic outlook remained challenging there were encouraging indications that some markets could recover earlier than expected.
"We continue to expect that the economic outlook will be difficult and that the overhang of debt will cast a very heavy shadow for an extended period," Threadneedle chief investment officer Mark Burgess said.
"However, we believe there may be a few grounds for expecting some improvement in the near future."
Signs of recovery in the United States housing market have emerged before the Federal Reserve's recently announced quantitative easing policy aimed at lowering mortgage costs.
There are also signs that the economic slowdown in China has bottomed and the latest purchasing manager's index of manufacturing activity has pushed over 50, indicating expansion and that the recent destocking phase appears to be largely over.
The banking sector is also showing signs of improvement.
According to the report, Threadneedle has long held the view that there has been a strategic underweighting of bank shares however after an in-depth analysis of the sector the 'tail risk' scenario of wide-scale failures has largely passed and the banking sector will perform in response to regional conditions rather than as a global group.
The outlook for Europe and the UK remains subdued however with further balance sheet adjustments required against a sluggish economic background.
