US

The results of last December's stress tests have prompted Threadneedle's Cormac Weldon to move to an overweight in financials as he calls the end of the banking crisis.

Santander's multi-manager team has added the $233m Brown Advisory American fund to its portfolios as it concentrates active US exposure around three core holdings.

SWIP multi-manager head Mark Harries is moving back into equities, after halving his exposure following last August's sell-off.

The managers of the £98m Melchior North American Opportunities fund have reversed out of defensive names into more economically sensitive sectors, following the string of positive economic data that has emerged from the US in recent months.

Fund managers are snapping up cheap portfolio insurance ahead of an expected market pull-back, after the VIX index hit pre-recession lows in March.

First State Investments Asia Pacific star Angus Tulloch has warned China will undershoot current GDP forecasts this year, as its domestic economy fails to take up the slack left by waning oversaes demand.

ON EUROPE

EMs

CONTRARIAN

The sheer size of US corporate cash piles could provide a boost to the wider economy this year, according to Capital Economics.