EUROPE – IPE’s monthly investment manager survey of expectations of equity and bond market movements reveal asset managers are expecting a rise in equities markets worldwide.

IPE surveys over 100 pensions asset managers on a monthly basis for their six- to 12-month views for equities, bonds and currencies. The asset managers are selected on the basis of having one or more segregated European mandate.

The results, taken from mid-February to mid-March, show that 71% are predicting a rise in US equities. And 71% are also predicting a rise in euro-zone equities while 66% predict a rise in UK equities. Only 48% of those surveyed are expecting a rise in Japanese equities – 40% are predicting stability. Eighty-one percent see a rise in Asian equities, although this is down from 84% in the previous survey.

In the bond arena the majority of asset managers surveyed are predicting prices to fall across the major currencies. For dollar-denominated bonds, 65% of asset managers are predicting a fall in price while 28% predict prices to remain stable.

Sixty percent of those surveyed expect Japanese yen-denominated bonds to fall in price, while 38% expect prices to remain the same.

For sterling- and euro-denominated bonds the opinion is more split. 43% are expecting sterling bond prices to remain stable and 49% expect a fall. 42% expect bonds denominated in euros to hold their price, while 43% expect the price to drop.

For currencies, 55% of asset managers are expecting the US dollar to fall against the euro; 37% believe the exchange rate will stay stable. The majority of asset managers surveyed believe the dollar will remain steady versus the yen and sterling.

Individual asset manager expectations can be found in IPE magazine every month.

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