Global Recession Fear Is Suddenly Stalking the Credit Market
- BAML’s Europe survey shows worries pivot ‘sharply’ to downturn
- Investors bid up banks, utilities, hybrids and shun cyclicals
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The risk of a global recession has surged to the top of the worry list for credit investors even as they push down their cash balances to snap up new-year issuance, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s latest survey of European money managers.
Almost 30 percent of respondents to the bank’s poll cited a worldwide economic slump as their largest concern, the strongest consensus for any single risk since June 2017. No one cited rising bond yields or higher inflation as their top worry, while only 2 percent said it was Brexit, according to analysts led by Barnaby Martin.