UK investors pile into stocks as risk appetite returns

By Jemima Kelly LONDON (Reuters) - British investors bumped up their stock bets by the most in a year in July and pulled out of cash, a Reuters poll found, after a deal to keep Greece in the euro stoked investors' appetite for riskier assets. The monthly survey of 12 investment managers based in the UK found that the average exposure to equities in global balanced portfolios rose to 52 percent from 47.9 percent the previous month -- a jump not seen since July 2014. Cash holdings, meanwhile, fell to 7.1 percent, having reached an eight-month high of 10.4 percent in June as investors fled to safety amid a stand-off between Greece and its creditors that pushed the country to the brink of bankruptcy. "Whilst global equity markets have been rather volatile over the last month on concerns over Grexit, China and (the) U.S. corporate earnings season, equities still look better value than bonds over the longer-term," said Peter Lowman, CIO at Investment Quorum in London. As expectations grew that the U.S. Federal Reserve would raise interest rates by the end of the year, and perhaps as soon as September, allocations to U.S. and Canadian equities fell to 26.6 percent. That was the lowest in at least three years and down from 28.3 percent in June. In fixed income porfolios, U.S. and Canadian bond holdings also fell sharply, down 10 percentage points at 28.8 percent. "Opportunities can be found in shorting expensive assets such as U.S. Treasuries and adding to positions which benefit from economic improvements, such as euro zone equities," said Standard Life analyst Craig Hoyda. The poll, which was conducted between July 17 and 30, also showed euro zone equity holdings rose to 18.5 percent in July, their highest in at least three years. The European Central Bank's 1 trillion euro quantitative easing programme and ultra-low borrowing costs are driving a gradual economic recovery in the 19-nation currency bloc. Investors also upped their holdings of emerging European stocks to 2 percent, the second-highest level in three years. Global bond allocations increased a little too, to 23.9 percent from 23 percent in June. "We don't believe that current low yields offer great value and expected returns are not sufficient to have a lot of bond investments as diversifying assets," said Chris Paine, fund manager and research director at Henderson Global Investors. "The rise in volatility across most asset classes may offer the greatest opportunities for absolute return strategies and we look towards these for diversification to our equity risk." (Editing by Catherine Evans)