Professional investors are slowly waking up to the realisation that, quite by accident, they have become enormously overexposed to the US, and they’re not sure of the way back.
For as long as anyone who manages money for a living has been in this game, US stocks have been a natural destination for foreign investors, whereas loading up on the UK, Europe, Japan or emerging markets has always been perceived as a bolder call.
“When you didn’t know where else to go, the US was the choice,” as Fabiana Fedeli, chief investment officer for equities at M&G Investments put it. “In the past, no one would lose their job for over-allocating to the US.”