Much was made last week of Merrill Lynch's monthly global fund manager survey showing that on average fund managers hold a hefty 4.8% in cash. This comes amid widespread bearishness on almost every other asset class and market.

When you do a back-of-the-envelope calculation, you can understand the interest. Merrill surveyed 293 firms, managing approximately $900bn (€729bn) in assets, meaning that about $45bn is parked on account.