The Long & Short of It: High wire act

Research evidence excerpt

The Long & Short of It: High wire act

Equity Research

23 June 2026

The Long & Short of It

High wire act SIGNATURE

Caution expressed by discretionary managers is thrown to

the wind by end investors, as real money US equity inflows

set multiple all-time records. Systematic equity positioning U.S. Equity Strategy

remains low but fragile. Options say the party rages on Rex+ 1 212Feng526 6114

rex.feng@barclays.combeneath the index calm.

BCI, US

Venu Krishna, CFA

+1 212 526 7328

Key Points & Highlights venu.krishna@barclays.com

• Entering a "flow state." While LO and HF managers remain selective amid recent BCI, US

choppiness and the S&P 500 within a few percentage points of a very recent all-time high, Riddhiman Dass

real money demand remains undaunted. Our expectation for fund flows to mean revert +1 212 526 0850

proved untimely, as nearly $120Bn of inflows to US equity funds over the one week ending riddhiman.dass@barclays.com

June 17th brought the 4-week rolling total to $166Bn, both all-time records, and the YTD BCI, US

total to nearly $300Bn, more than 3 times the 5Y median. Inflows shared one destination: Tianqi Feng

the AI value chain, via both Tech and Industrial sector specialist funds (the former of which +1 212 526 9179

doubled YTD inflows within 2 weeks), as well as Large-Cap Blend funds. The correlation tianqi.feng@barclays.com

between Tech fund flows and valuations indicates that end investor demand for Tech BCI, US

stocks has flipped from dip buying to upside chasing for the first time in roughly 12

Global Equity Derivatives Strategy

months. Anshul Gupta

+44 (0) 20 7773 0430

• Systematic equity positioning remains low but fragile: Vol-control exposure has fallen anshul.gupta@barclays.com