Investors holding biggest cash pile since 2001: survey

London

INVESTORS have amassed their largest cash pile since 2001 and cut equity holdings to a four-year low, rattled by worries over Brexit and policy-makers' ability to bolster a fragile global economy, a Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML) survey said on Tuesday.

Even though world bond yields have never been lower and an increasing array of bank deposit rates around the world are now negative, investors are willing to hold more cash in their portfolios than at any time since November 2001.

Risk appetite fell to its lowest level in four years, consistent with recession, although growth and profit expectations hit a six-month high and inflation expectations a one-year high, BAML's global fund manager survey sh…