August 2026
Views from 50 top asset managers across 73 assets, based on 1,400+ individual views.
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Main takeaways
Grinding more bullish
Buy-side sentiment continued to improve in August.
But the broader message is still one of underlying bullishness that is less extreme than what we see across some of our other sentiment indicators.
Buy-side views remain more cautious than they were before the war with Iran. And while bullishness has increased in some areas, it continues to be balanced by caution elsewhere.
Max contrarian
The Buy Side is most bullish on Infrastructure, Equities and Tech.
It is most bearish on the Swiss Franc, Cash and Consumer Discretionary.
Long US vs Europe is consensus — everywhere
US assets have been returning to favour across equities, fixed income and currencies.
In each case, that has come at the expense of European assets.
The gap is unusually wide — and unusually consistent across asset classes.
That makes it one of the clearest consensus trades in the Tracker, and therefore an area of potential vulnerability if the narrative starts to shift.
Sentiment
Risk appetite rises again, but the picture remains mixed
Our aggregate Risk-On/Risk-Off indicator rose for a third consecutive month and is now at its highest level since the start of the war with Iran.
That still leaves it below pre-war levels. This is different from what we are seeing elsewhere in our sentiment data, where our higher-frequency RoRo SMA moved above its pre-war levels this week.
The Buy Side Sentiment Tracker is therefore sending a more cautious message.
Risk appetite increased in three of our five underlying indicators this month, while two moved lower.
Equities remain the clearest expression of bullishness. The aggregate view has climbed to +75% net bullish, taking sentiment back close to historical extremes.
37 Bulls | 10 Neutrals | 1 Bear
But this is not a universally risk-on picture.
Cash views have only been cut moderately. At -31% net bearish, Cash is a little less popular than average, but still well above the -50% net bearish reached in February before the war.