"Sentiment at the end of last year could not have been any worse and that has been reflected in people’s outlooks for this year," he said. "But many of the fund managers at Schroders think that 2012 could be a lot better than people think."
Recent research from FE Trustnet showed that 10 out of the 12 funds in Schroders' UK equity range underperformed their respective benchmarks in 2011 because the managers were positioned too aggressively.
However, performance this year has so far been impressive and Stoakley says the portfolios are better suited to rising markets.
"So far this year there has been a lot more confidence and we are seeing a dramatic bounce-back in a number of funds."
Data from FE Analytics shows that the Schroder Recovery fund, headed-up by Kevin Murphy and Nick Kirrage, has returned 9.29 per cent in the year-to-date while the FTSE All Share has returned 3.31 per cent.
Stoakley says that the current appetite for cash and safe-haven investments is likely to be reversed.
"Investors have been taking risk off the table but over the course of 2012 they will want to put it back in to their portfolios, beginning with bonds – particularly higher yielding investments such as emerging market bond funds – and then into equities, which look pretty good value right now."
"Income-generating stocks will continue to be a major theme for investors this year and our Income Maximiser range is seeing strong inflows to reflect that trend."
Performance of fund vs sector over 5-yrs
Source: FE Analytics
The range features Thomas See’s £726m Schroder Income Maximiser fund. Data from FE Analytics shows that the fund has returned 6.93 per cent over the last five years compared with a loss of 2.25 per cent from the average fund in the UK Equity Income sector.