Chief investment officers surveyed by the Financial Services Council are negative about the prospects of international and Australian bonds, but are positive about stocks.
The CIOs are also upbeat about Australian property investment but down on real estate overseas.
Europe’s sovereign debt crisis is the biggest risk to investors this year, the survey reports. China’s economy will remain resilient.
The overall sentiment index toward investing now stands at 16, down from 20 in December.
A score of 0 is considered neutral, a score of 100 is the most positive and a score of minus 100 is the most negative.
The companies surveyed by the FSC include BlackRock, BT Investment Management, Goldman Sachs, Perpetual and Schroder.
Its important to make the distinction between expensiveness of international bonds against Australian. Both offer yields well below long run averages but Australian bonds can still offer that priceless defensive characteristic of portential capital gain if equities fall. With yields globally closer to the zero nominal bound (and often negative in real terms) the case for an international bond allocation is much more limited.
If you want to allocate internationally, weight towards Asia where yields and credit quality are superior.