Investors dump stocks, move to cash as growth outlook weakens: BoFA

Investors are more concerned about the outlook for global growth than at any time since the global financial crisis in 2008, and they have ramped up their cash holdings to a two-year high, according to a monthly fund manager survey by BofA.

The majority of investors managing about $1 trillion in assets polled between March 4 and 10 now expect an equity bear market in 2022 and allocations to global equities have dropped to their lowest levels since May 2020. Cash levels among investors rose to nearly 6% while allocations to commodities soared to a record 33%. The top crowded trade is long oil/commodities, the U.S. investment bank said in the note.

Investors have also slightly increased their expectations for the number of rate hikes from the U.S. Federal Reserve in 2022 at the same time as liquidity conditions have worsened considerably to their lowest since the coronavirus pandemic hit financial markets in March and April 2020.

"This is notable because central banks have historically have been much less inclined to hike when liquidity conditions are very poor," BofA said.

(Reporting by Saikat Chatterjee; Editing by Tommy Wilkes)