Slower global growth, higher core inflation and rising worldwide interest rates all contributed to fund managers’ dimmer view of the global economy in Merrill Lynch’s Survey of Fund Managers for May. The survey found that 14% of those polled expect the global economy to deteriorate over the next year, compared with 5% in April. Also, 64% of fund manager expect global core inflation to be higher a year from now, up from, 47% last month, and managers have become more risk averse. According to the poll, 11% of respondents say their investment strategy features lower-than-normal risk, compared with 4% just three months earlier. While only 11% of those polled were overweight in cash relative to their benchmark in February, 18% said they were in May. The survey also recorded the most pessimistic view of the dollar ever: 66% said the greenback was the currency most likely to depreciate on a trade-weighed basis over the next 12 months.
