Investor Positioning and Flows: Strategy Update

Research evidence excerpt

Investor Positioning and Flows: Strategy Update

18 June 2026

Investor Positioning and Flows

week performed largely in line with the broader market this week,

as did a basket of the most shorted stocks.

n Investor sentiment (bull minus bear spread) turned less bearish

this week (10th percentile) but remained bearish for a fifth

consecutive week. Bullish (47th percentile) and neutral responses

(21st percentile) rose, while bearish responses (80th percentile) fell.

n Under systematic strategies positioning,

n Vol control funds’ equity allocation remained at moderate levels

(46th percentile) and their sensitivity to market sell offs declined

this week. With exposure no longer stretched and sensitivity lower,

vol control funds have room to add equities, while near term

downside selling pressure appears more limited.

n CTAs raised their equity positioning to the upper half of their

historical range (63rd percentile). Positioning is broad-based

across regions, led by Europe (74th percentile), followed by the US

(62nd percentile) and EM (61st percentile), while that in Japan

remains relatively modest (47th percentile). In other assets, short

positioning in bonds increased further (US 13th percentile, Europe

15th percentile), longs in the dollar continued to be elevated (90th

percentile), and in commodities, longs in gold were moderate (44th

percentile), while those in copper (94th percentile) and oil (65th

percentile) were slightly increased.

n Risk parity funds raised their equity allocation modestly, but still

remain low (22nd percentile), with moderate allocations across the

US (22nd percentile), other developed markets (38th percentile),

and EM (12th percentile). Across asset classes, positioning has

shifted higher: bond exposure increased (67th percentile), while