Investors are putting more money behind real estate assets as risk appetites grow on rising investor sentiment, Bank of America-Merrill Lynch (BAC) said in a new fund manager survey.
Overall, investor sentiment rose in July, causing fund managers to allocate more investment dollars to equities, real estate and other commodities, fund managers reported in BofA-Merrill’s August survey.
About 173 investors participated in the study. Fifteen percent of the investor respondents expect the world economy to gain traction in the coming year. This is a monthly uptick of 28 percentage points, and the largest jump in investor confidence since spring of 2009, Bank of America-Merrill Lynch said.
Last month, 13% of investors predicted the economy could weaken further. Meanwhile, 21% said profits may deteriorate in the coming year, compared to 38% a month ago.
The survey suggests all of the newfound optimism is the direct result of investors believing the European Central Bank will intervene in the eurozone crisis, with 38% of investors interviewed saying they expect the central bank to act in Europe during the third quarter.
Investor allocations to real estate are now in overweight territory for only the second time since 2007.
