HSBC’s Fund Managers’ Survey: Tracking Global Money Flows found global fund managers are still positive about equities, but not as positive as the previous quarter.
Over half continue to favour equities as an asset class, however this is a fall of around a 20 per cent on the previous quarter.
Interestingly, the survey also found that emerging markets equities are back in the spotlight, with over half of the fund managers holding a positive view, compared to only 29 per cent in the previous quarter.
“Global fund managers generally remain optimistic about the prospects of equities. Emerging markets equities including Asia equities continue to be attractive as a result of better fundamentals,” Mike Danby, head of wealth management at HSBC bank Australia, said.
“Emerging markets equities are generally in good shape and continue to attract inflows,” he added.
The survey also found that no fund manager is underweight towards Japan equities after their central bank’s monetary easing plan.
In terms of bonds, it is a mixed picture, with a majority of respondents underweight towards American bonds, probably due to concerns about future quantitative easing. However, managers are bullish about Asian local currency bonds.
All equity and bond markets except North America equities and global bonds recorded positive returns, with China equities as the best performer, followed by Europe including UK equities.
