Fund managers this month made their sharpest switch back to risk since the resurgence of equity markets in April last year, but they continued to shun Europe and the US over fears of further quantitative easing.

The average level of risk held by asset managers, who responded to a monthly survey conducted by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, jumped by a the highest degree since managers began buying back into recovering equity markets after their nadir at the beginning of March 2009.