When asked whether the prospect of QE in the UK and the US was leading them to buy more equities, 46 per cent said yes, 41 per cent said no and 13 per cent remained undecided.
Weekly poll result
| Is the QE in the UK and the US leading you to buy more equities? | % |
| Yes |
45.56% |
| No |
40.97% |
| Undecided |
13.47% |
Source: Trustnet. Poll conducted 8-12 November, 349 respondents
The results follow the US Fed's decision to pump $600bn into the economy last week, and the UK Monetary Policy Committee's (MPC) announcement that it was unlikely to issue further QE.
Reaction amongst intermediaries and investors has been mixed. Mihir Worah, managing director at bond investor PIMCO, said all risk assets would get a boost initially.
"This means corporate bonds, high yield and equities. Longer-term, returns in these risk assets will ultimately be determined by the ability of the economy to regain strength, which remains a concern," he said.
"Assets that diversify the US dollar or US inflation risk should also benefit. We would highlight commodities, high quality emerging market currencies and locally denominated emerging markets assets," he added.
Meanwhile, online stockbroker TD Waterhouse said the move had initially prompted investors to sell off banking shares.
"Top ten sells of bank shares by TD Waterhouse customers have jumped by 142 per cent this week, in the wake of the US decision to embark on a second round of quantitative easing," Darren Hepworth, trading and customer services director at the group said.
"The announcement lifted the FTSE to a two-year high and gave all three banks [Lloyds, RBS and Barclays] a short-term share lift," he added.
Royal London manager Derek Mitchell said the measure had given markets a boost, but that things could change going forward.
He said: "QE2 has lit the blue touch paper, with the market reacting in a predictable fashion. What will be interesting going forwards is whether this changes investors' preference for bonds. QE is designed to generate inflation, which is bad for bonds, but good for equities. If bonds start to underperform I’d expect investors will change their allocation to equities."
Other managers believe region allocation will be just as important as asset allocation following the latest round of QE, as Barry Norris said in an exclusive interview for Trustnet.