Many hedge funds expect Greece's debt crisis to spread to other countries, and some managers in the $1.5 trillion industry think the country's problems will lead to the breakup of the euro, according to a survey released Tuesday.
TrimTabs Investment Research and BarclayHedge polled 61 hedge fund managers overseeing almost $7 billion in mid-February, and found that nearly 60% expect the Greek debt crisis to spread to other European countries. The survey also found 15% of managers expect the crisis will lead to a breakup of the euro. No manager in the euro zone expected this, but it was popular with U.K. and U.S. managers, TrimTabs and BarclayHedge said.
Just more than 26% of managers indicated that the Greek debt crisis will be contained and resolved quickly, the firms said.
Managers overwhelmingly favored the U.S. dollar in the short term, with 57% of managers bullish on the greenback. The Brazilian real was a distant second, while the British pound was "remarkably unpopular," with 3.3% of managers bullish on the pound.
