Fund managers are now less bullish about equity markets compared to the past few months as the European debt crisis has clouded the prospect for recovery in the global economy, according to a latest survey by HSBC.

Twenty percent of fund managers polled in the survey are now holding an "underweight" rating on equities in the second quarter, the survey showed.

Last quarter, 50 percent of fund managers were "overweight" while the other half were "neutral" towards equities, the survey results indicated.

Meanwhile, the majority of fund managers - 75 percent - are neutral towards bonds this quarter, up significantly from 56 percent in the first quarter, after the contagion risk of the Greek debt crisis saw fund managers worldwide fleeing from equities to the safety of bonds.

In the first quarter, global bonds funds saw a 22.5 percent increase in net money inflow, the highest among various types of investment funds, the survey indicated.

However, investors haven't totally shied away from risk as indicated by the fact that cash, a relatively safer asset class, remains an unattractive choice for many fund managers.

There are no fund managers holding an "overweight" view towards cash in the second quarter, the survey reported.

Bruno Lee, HSBC Regional Head of Wealth Management Asia-Pacific, said, "Our survey shows that fund managers have become less bullish on equities compared to the past few months and have turned lukewarm towards bonds as the current European debt crisis continues to impact the global economic recovery. However, fund managers do not view cash as a strong alternative and will continue to invest selectively in more risky assets," he said.

Despite being less bullish about equities in general, fund managers are still optimistic about prospects for emerging markets.

Three in four respondents are bullish on emerging market equities in the second quarter, up from 60 percent in the previous quarter. The vast majority - 88 percent - also hold an "overweight" view on global emerging market high-yield bonds, a jump from 38 percent in the first quarter.

While no fund manager is "underweight" towards Asia-Pacific ex-Japan equities, 63 percent hold a "neutral" view in the second quarter as compared with 30 percent in the first quarter.

Meanwhile, over half of the respondents are "underweight" towards European equities while the proportion of those who are bullish towards European bonds declined to 29 percent from 50 percent.

North American assets remained attractive, with only 11 percent of respondents holding an "underweight" view on US equities, down from 20 percent in the first quarter.

China Daily

(HK Edition 06/09/2010 page3)