Investors increasingly believe that the threat of another dip in the economy is waning, a survey concluded.
Investors' risk aversion is at its lowest point in more than three years amid optimism that the global economy is on a path to recovery, according to the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Survey of Fund Managers for October, which was released Wednesday. Sixty-five percent of respondents said they think a global recession is unlikely in the next 12 months, up from 47% last month, and 72% said they think the outlook for corporate profits will improve, up from 68%.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index has risen nearly 60% since falling to its lowest point in more than a decade in March.
The survey also found that asset allocators are shifting cash back into equities. Cash positions are at their lowest level since January 2004, and a net 7% of respondents were underweighting cash; in September a net 10% were overweighting. Thirty-eight percent of those surveyed were overweighting equities, up from 27% in September.
