Global funds cut equity exposure in February amid coronavirus risks - Reuters Poll

According to a monthly Reuters poll of 38 wealth managers and CIOs in Europe, the US, Britain and Japan, global funds look to cut their equity allocations in their model balanced portfolio, as major Wall Street indices crashed on growing coronavirus risks on the global economy.

Key findings:

“Equity exposure fell on average to 49.1% in a global balanced portfolio, from 49.7% in January, which was a two-year high.

Bond allocations were increased to 41.4% on average from 40.3%.

A strong majority of fund managers said at best they would maintain the current risk positioning or they would reduce exposure to riskier assets.

That suggests fund managers are not confident about a significant lift-off in stocks over the coming months despite widespread expectations of monetary policy easing.”