While most European fund selectors prefer US equity funds that target an outperformance of 2-3% versus the S&P 500, the French go for funds which aspire to considerably higher returns.
More than half of French fund selectors own US equity funds with a higher active share, that target an annual outperformance of the S&P 500-index of at least 4%, while they tend to dislike benchmark huggers. Less than 20% of them have funds aiming at a more modest outperformance in their portfolio.
German-speakers play it safe
In the rest of Europe, the picture is quite different. Especially German-speaking fund selectors prefer a safe bet on the US equity side, targeting funds which aim at an outperformance of 2-3%. Just one in five German and Swiss fund selectors own a high-risk US equity fund. Among Austrian investors, modest US funds are also much more popular than their more ambitious peers.
Short strategies gain ground
While most fund selectors in Europe invest in long-only US funds alone, many are considering buying long-short funds as well. In most countries around 10% of fund selectors own long-short funds, but many more consider buying them to prepare themselves for an ever more likely market slide. Long-short US equity funds are most popular in Italy and Spain, which are also the two European countries with lowest fund selector appetite for the asset class.
