Active long-only funds reduced exposure to the global semiconductor sector by $44.2 billion last month, driven by concerns over the sustainability of artificial-intelligence-related investments, according to Bank of America data.
The shift followed a rotation into the global telecom sector, which attracted $16.7 billion in inflows—the largest sector allocation change tracked by the bank.
Regional equity flows showed broad-based selling in April. U.S. equities saw $64.8 billion in outflows, while European shares recorded $25.9 billion in withdrawals. Japanese equities bucked the trend with $13.9 billion in net purchases.
Year-to-date, Japan remained the top destination for fund inflows at $34.1 billion, followed by the global energy sector with $28.2 billion and materials at $25.7 billion.
Bank of America’s latest global fund manager survey highlighted shifting sector preferences. The largest overweight positions by dollar value relative to benchmarks included Phillip Morris and Meta Platforms in the U.S., ASML and British American Tobacco in Europe, Keyence and Hitachi in Japan, and TSMC and Samsung Electronics in emerging markets.
Over the past year, the most significant share purchases were concentrated in energy storage, precision medicine, space, and cybersecurity, while the largest sales occurred in AI compute and quantum computing. Current portfolio adjustments have led to the highest overweight allocations in precision medicine, luxury lifestyle, and grid modernization, with the largest underweights in quantum computing and AI platforms.
