BofA Fund Manager Survey: Long Global Semis Trade Most Crowded Ever

BlockBeats News, July 17th

According to Bank of America's July Global Fund Manager Survey, investors are showing conflicting views on AI semiconductor trading: the majority are still not betting on the end of the cycle, but more and more people believe that the trade has become excessively crowded.

The survey shows that 82% of the fund managers surveyed believe that "longing global semiconductors" is the most crowded trade globally, reaching a record high. At the same time, the overweight position in tech stocks has decreased from a net 26% overweight to a net 18% overweight, indicating that investors are trimming some long positions but have not actually shifted to short positions. The survey also shows that 61% of investors do not expect hyperscalers to announce a capital expenditure cut this year.

The BofA survey also pointed out that the AI bubble has become one of the biggest tail risks, with the allocation increasing from 28% in June to 45% in July. However, only some investors believe that AI stocks have reached a bubble stage; more still see it as a "boom phase," where momentum continues to attract inflows of funds, but position and valuation risks are rising.

The survey was conducted from July 2nd to July 9th, covering 210 fund managers overseeing a total of around $555 billion in assets.