BofA August Global Fund Manager Survey The Noes Have It

Global Fund Manager Survey The Noes Have It

18 August 2026 BofA August Global Fund Manager Survey Bottom Line: August FMS is 3rd most bullish survey of investor sentiment since '22; Investment Strategy cash level down to uber-low 3.5% from 3.6%, and global equity allocation surges to Global highest since Nov'21 (net 56% OW); consensus conviction is no macro landing, no Fed hike, no AI capex cut, no DEM sweep, no bears…positioning continues to recommend investors retreat or rotate within risk assets rather than reload.

On Macro: growth expectations positive, record 56% predict “no landing” for economic growth; highest number of investors forecasting “boom” (43%) since Feb'22, double- digit EPS growth (37%) since Aug’21. Michael Hartnett Investment Strategist On Policy & Politics: 72% say no Fed hike before US midterms, Warsh at Jackson Hole BofAS to be hawkish 31%, dovish 7%, neutral 53%; asked for market reaction to DEM midterm sweep…37% say “yields up/stocks down,” 17% “yields down/stocks up,” 16% “yields Anya Shelekhin down/stocks down,” 9% “yields up/stocks up.” Investment Strategist BofAS On Risks, Crowds & Chips: most crowded trade = “long global semiconductors” (53% down from 82%); biggest tail risk = AI bubble (32%) and most likely source credit event Myung-Jee Jung = “AI hyperscaler capex” (38%); that all said, 71% say no AI capex cut in '26, and 58% Investment Strategist BofAS say AI won’t disrupt labor market until 2028 at the earliest. On AA: investors long stocks (esp. EM & US - most since Dec'24) & commodities, short Jessica Guo Investment Strategist bonds; Aug rotation into tech, banks & energy, short-covering in staples & discretionary, BofAS rotation out of industrials & healthcare; gold seen as most undervalued since Mar'23. FMS Contrarian Trades: long bonds/short commodities, long staples/short tech, long discretionary/short banks, long UK stocks/short US stocks. Notes to Readers Chart 1: BofA Global FMS investor sentiment very bullish in August Source for all tables and charts: Percentile rank of FMS growth expectations, cash level, and equity allocation BofA Fund Manager Survey, DataStream 10 QE1 BRICS Blue wave Survey period August 7th to 13th, Tax cuts 2026 Tax cuts Aug'26 8 Trump 2.0 203 panellists with $581bn AUM 6 participated in the survey. 180 participants with $525bn AUM 4 responded to the Global FMS questions and 98 participants with Iraq COVID 2 9/11 war Trade $272bn AUM responded to the US/EU CNY war Trade Regional FMS questions. GFC debt crisis deval SVB war 0 '01 '03 '05 '07 '09 '11 '13 '15 '17 '19 '21 '23 '25 '27 How to join the FMS panel Percentile rank of FMS growth expectations + cash AA + equity AA (scale 1-10) Investors/clients are encouraged to sign up to participate in the Survey. Source: BofA Global Fund Manager Survey This can be done by contacting BofA GLOBAL RESEARCH Michael Hartnett or your BofA sales representative. Trading ideas and investment strategies discussed herein may give rise to significant risk and are not suitable for all investors. Investors should have experience in relevant markets and the financial Participants in the survey will continue resources to absorb any losses arising from applying these ideas or strategies. to receive the full set of monthly BofA Securities does and seeks to do business with issuers covered in its research results but only for the relevant reports. As a result, investors should be aware that the firm may have a conflict of month in which they participate. interest that could affect the objectivity of this report. Investors should consider this report as only a single factor in making their investment decision. OW: overweight; UW: underweight Refer to important disclosures on page 24 to 26. AA: asset allocation

Charts of the Month Chart 2: FMS cash level falls to 3.5%, the 6th lowest level since 1998 BofA FMS cash level fell further from uber-low BofA FMS average cash level (% of AUM) 3.6% of AUM in July to 3.5% in August, the lowest level since Feb’26 and 6th lowest level May'00 FMS average cash level (% of AUM) in FMS history (since ’98). 8%

Feb'01 BofA Global FMS Cash Rule “sell” signal is still 7% triggered (“sell” when cash is at or…