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Sources: Rates Data —Bloomberg Markets as of 8/11/14; Equity Market Returns and Fixed Income and Alternatives Data—Wells Fargo Advisers as of 8/11/14
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Fund Managers Hold More Cash in August. But What Does That Mean?
Bank of America/ Merrill Lynch recently conducted a survey that looked into what percentage of Fund Managers are currently “overweight” cash in their portfolios. The results show that 27% of respondents consider themselves overweight cash, up from only 12% in July. There are a few interesting takeaways from this article but before we dive in, it’s important to understand what “overweight” cash really means. Consider this, many money managers keep a certain amount of their portfolios in cash to help with trade settlement and client fees. This allows them to draw upon the cash rather than place trades to generate liquidity. So, if a money manager aims to keep say 2% in cash, holding 4% would be considered a large overweight position (a relative increase of 100%.)
A few different media outlets have reported on this survey and most of the headlines have been something to the effect of “Pro Investors Hold Most Cash since 2012.” While on the surface this headline is sure to rattle some investors’ confidence, it’s important to take a step back and keep a proper prospective. The actual survey reported that the average cash position is about 5%. While it is true that this is the highest amount since June 2012, it means that 95% of the portfolios may still be invested in equities, bonds, commodities etc. So to say they are “overweight” may be accurate but it certainly doesn’t mean they are moving 100% of their portfolios to cash in an attempt to time the market. (It should also be mentioned that since 2012, the Stock Market, or S&P 500 has increased a cumulative 54%).
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Definitions
MSCI- EAFE: The Morgan Stanley Capital International Europe, Australasia and Far East Index, a free float-adjusted market capitalization index that is designed to measure developed-market equity performance, excluding the United States and Canada.
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ML Muni Master [Merill Lynch US Corporate Master]: The Merrill Lynch Municipal Bond Master Index is a broad measure of the municipal fixed income market.
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DJ Equity REIT Index represents all publicly traded real estate investment trusts in the Dow Jones U.S. stock universe classified as Equity REITs according to the S&P Dow Jones Indices REIT Industry Classification Hierarchy. These companies are REITSs that primarily own and operate income-producing real estate.