Global fund managers do not bullish on the stock: HSBC survey

Over four in 10 global fund managers polled in HSBC's latest Fund Managers' Survey continued to hold an overweight view towards equities in the second quarter of 2011 while another 44 percent shifted their views to neutral. All fund managers were overweight towards equities in the first quarter of 2011.

On the other hand, 13 percent of respondents turned bullish towards bonds and towards cash in the second quarter when no fund manager held overweight views towards these two asset classes last quarter, said the bank in a report released on Wednesday.

Bruno Lee, HSBC's Regional Head of Wealth Management Asia- Pacific, said while fund managers planed to diversify exposure into bonds and cash, 44 percent remained bullish towards equities, reflecting the potential of this asset class to continue to offer relatively attractive valuations and strong liquidity.

In recent months, inflation, a persistent dark cloud over fast growing economies and an emerging concern in developed markets such as Europe, has fueled short-term volatility in the equities market, affecting investor sentiment, he said.

Over half of fund managers were bullish towards Japanese equities and emerging markets equities in the second quarter, compared to 38 percent and 75 percent, respectively, in the first quarter.

Over half of respondents are either neutral or underweight towards North American equities in the second quarter compared to 100 percent being overweight in the previous quarter.

HSBC's quarterly Fund Managers' Survey analyzed 13 of the world 's leading fund management houses on the basis of funds under management (FUM), asset allocation views and global money flows. At the end of first quarter this year, polled fund managers reported aggregated FUM of 4.35 trillion U.S. dollars representing approximately 17.1 percent of the estimated total global FUM. 

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