The latest Bank of America Corp. (BofA) fund manager survey (FMS) revealed that the share of investors expecting a deterioration in the global economy was the highest on record.

The survey, covering 292 panelists in the first week of April, also found that fears of stagflation – low growth alongside high inflation – was the highest since August 2008.

Fully 71 percent of institutional investors expect the world economy to weaken over the coming 12 months. The bearishness is driven by fears of increasing inflation, the conflict in Ukraine and the monetary tightening stance that the US Federal Reserve is expected to aggressively pursue in the coming months.

US inflation in March rose to a higher than anticipated 8.5 percent, with food costs rising alongside energy costs.

Michael Hartnett, chief investment strategist at BofA Securities, commented “The April fund manager survey (FMS) is bearish as fear of fast and furious Fed sends global growth optimism to all-time low, keeps Wall Street stability risks high; though not as bearish as war-shocked March FMS. We remain in 'sell-the-rally' camp as profit-policy set-up means January / February sell-off was an appetizer not main course of 2022”

The BofA FMS polled 292 investment professionals managing a combined $833bn in assets in the first week of April 2022.