Two-thirds of investors surveyed were bearish on both growth and inflation. (Photo: Thinkstock)
Investors' global growth expectations continued to rebound in April, according to the latest Bank of America Merrill Lynch fund managers survey, with net 5% of participants expecting global growth to weaken over the next year, a 20 percentage point improvement from the March survey.
At the same time, two-thirds of investors surveyed were bearish on both the growth and inflation outlook for the global economy over the next 12 months, the highest level since October 2016, further confirming the return of secular stagnation as their consensus view, Merrill said.
A global economic recession is not on the horizon, according to survey participants, as only 6% said they expected one this year. Seven out of 10 said they did not anticipate a recession until the second half of 2020 or beyond.
The inversion of the U.S. Treasury yield curve does not signal an impending recession, according to 86% of respondents.
Fifty-three percent of investors said the Federal Reserve was done hiking interest rates during the current cycle, up 15 points from last month. Only net 13% of fund managers said they expected higher global short-term rates, the lowest level since 2012.
"FMS investors added a bit of cyclical risk this month but are still firmly positioned for secular stagnation," Michael Hartnett, Merrill's chief investment strategist, said in a statement. "They are long assets that outperform when growth and rates fall, like cash, EM and utilities, while short assets that require higher growth and rates, such as equities, the Eurozone and banks."
