MW Buffett's been hoarding cash. The rest of the market is doing the opposite.

By Steve Goldstein

Bank of America survey of fund managers finds lowest allocation to cash in 15 years

While Warren Buffett has been building cash reserves, the rest of the market has taken their cash holdings to the lowest level in 15 years.

Bank of America's monthly fund manager survey reported that cash holdings as a percentage of portfolio fell to 3.5% in February, which it said was the lowest reading since 2010.

The survey of 205 managers running $482 billion in assets triggered Bank of America's sell rule, which states that a sell signal is triggered when cash holdings fall to 4% or below and a buy signal is generated when cash holdings reach at least 5%.

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has been building cash, which reached $325 billion of cash at the end of September. The 13-F filing late Friday from Berkshire Hathaway didn't specifically detail how much cash the firm has but showed that it didn't make any major purchase of U.S.-listed stocks during the time period.

Bank of America said a broader measure of investor sentiment which also includes allocation to equities and global growth expectations did rise, to 6.4 from 6.1 in January, but below the peaks of December after President Donald Trump was elected.

Investors in February increased their allocation to eurozone stocks, bonds and defensive sectors while reducing allocation to tech, equities more broadly and banks. They're still overweight stocks, banks, healthcare and the U.S. and underweight U.K., resources and bonds.

Investor probability for a soft landing rose the first time in five months, to 52% from 50%, while no landing expectations edged lower from 21-month highs. Expectations of a hard landing remain low, at just 6%.

The most bearish development for risky assets is seen as a global trade war, followed by a disorderly rise in bond yields and Fed rate hikes, and gold was overwhelmingly seen as the best-performing asset in a trade war.

Related: Why UBS and Goldman Sachs boosted their gold forecasts

Long Magnificent Seven was viewed as the most crowded trade, at 56%, followed by long U.S. dollar and long crypto.

-Steve Goldstein

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February 18, 2025 06:32 ET (11:32 GMT)

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