A survey by Merrill Lynch shows most fund managers expect the world economy and capital markets to improve in 2002, but anticipate having to switch quickly in and out of shares to benefit.
David Bowers, Merrill Lynch's chief global strategist, said: "It's a trading environment. Investors have shorter-than-usual investment horizons, rather than buy and hold." Supporting this, more than three-quarters of the 263 fund management firms surveyed in mid-December said they would buy if the market fell 10% in the next three months. Almost half of them said they would sell if the market rose by 10% over the same period.