LONDON: Investors' increased their allocations to cash and reduced their an overweight position in stocks in August, as expectations for global growth dropped to its lowest in 8 months, a BofA survey of fund mangers published on Tuesday showed.
According to the survey, 31 per cent of respondents said they were overweight stocks in August, down from 51 per cent in July, while their average cash level was 4.3 per cent of their assets under management, up from 4.1 per cent a month before.
BofA attributed the shift to weak U.S. payrolls data for July, and the volatility shock associated with the rebound in the yen.
BofA said 189 participants with US$508 billion of assets under management responded to the survey.
A net 47 per cent of survey respondents expect a weaker global economy in the next 12 months, down 20 percentage points from July.