The risk appetite of the majority (56%) of respondents hasn’t changed in the past six months. Moreover, the number of investors who said they have become more willing to take risk is twice as high as the share of respondents who have turned more bearish (see chart below).
Since the poll was conducted in December, risk appetite among investors is likely to have headed slightly lower. As the equity market rout at the start of the year was once again induced by events in China, the main threat investors see for their portfolios is likely to have remained the same though. A third of respondents said they regard an emerging market crisis as the biggest danger. Far fewer investors expect an eventual financial crisis to originate in the developed world.