In short, investors treating
high cash levels as a contrarian buy signal may want to consider a different interpretation.
This, when combined
with higher cash levels at companies, including penny stocks, will drive companies to increase their dividend yield over the next decade.
Jonathan Pinsler, a senior vice-president and portfolio manager at TD Waterhouse in Montreal, is one of several money managers who believe it is more important than ever to be
holding higher cash levels than normal.
Some observers anticipate that there will be a large number of hedge fund closures this year,
so high cash levels in hedge funds may not be a conclusive a bull market indicator as high cash balances in more conservatively managed mutual funds is.
«Many investors
interpret high cash levels as a contrarian indicator, suggesting an excessive level of caution,» Koesterich said in a blog.
Many investors interpret
high cash levels as a contrarian indicator, suggesting an excessive level of caution.
Instead,
high cash levels are a rational response to the changing structure of cross-asset correlations.
High cash levels are a rational response to the changing structure of cross-asset correlations.»
Instead,
high cash levels are a rational response to the changing structure of cross-asset correlations.
I've also written a «Financial Independence» column on
the high cash levels some value mutual fund managers are holding.
That might seem especially surprising given
our high cash levels which should buffer returns.
This was a difficult time to find outperformance because it unfolded so quickly, but on a relative basis disciplined asset allocation softened the blow; and a reduced allocation to financial stocks,
a higher cash level, and a focus on valuations reduced risk in portfolios and helped outperform comparable benchmarks.
Since the return on short - term cash investments is generally much less than that of riskier asset classes like equities, holding
these higher cash levels can end up reducing an active manager's returns.