Fund managers invest in equities

Global fund managers poured money back into equities last month as the US war in Iraq helped ease concerns, according to Merrill Lynch.

Its April fund manager survey, conducted from April 3rd to 10th, showed that the average cash balance held by managers fell to 4.6 per cent from 5.4 per cent in March. That is the lowest percentage of cash held by managers since January.

The poll of 314 managers, taken as US troops entered Baghdad, suggested there were many concerns other than war still weighing on managers, such as poor corporate earnings growth and pessimism over economic growth.

Fund managers were less risk-averse than in March but about 40 per cent still believed they were taking less risk than usual in their portfolios and most managers believed the outlook for corporate profits was becoming more volatile. - (Financial Times Service)