Positioning risk, but Europe not in a bad spot

Research evidence excerpt

Positioning risk, but Europe not in a bad spot

Equity Research

Equity Strategy

29 July 2026

Equity Strategy - Who Owns What

Positioning risk, but Europe not in SIGNATURE

a bad spot

Record inflows & extended HF/CTA longs limit positioning

European Equity Strategy

cushion. And while strong earnings support equities, Fed/rate Emmanuel Cau, CFA

jitters & adverse seasonality warrant hedges, with oil a wild +44 (0)20 3134 0475 emmanuel.cau@barclays.com

card. Momo bounce likely post 2nd largest drawdown, but Barclays, UK

crowding still high. Less Tech-centric flows aid Europe/Value. Magesh Kumar Chandrasekaran, CFA

+44 (0)20 3134 5983

magesh.kumarchandrasekaran@barclays.com

Barclays, UK

 Listen Emmanuel Makonga

+44 (0)20 7773 2593

emmanuel.makonga@barclays.comPlease register here to join our conference call on the flows and positioning update on Wed 29th

Jul.

Arihanth Bohra Jain

Equity positioning near the highs. Long only equity flows were very strong again in July (albeit +91 (0)22 6175 1406

skewed by record China inflows), at $129bn, even as retail participation softened and sentiment arihanth.bohrajain@barclays.com

indicators like AAII bull-bear and fear/greed index moderated considerably. However, after Barclays, UK

modest unwind in June, HFs and systematics longs crept up again, pushing up aggregate equity

positioning near the highs. Ytd global equity inflows stand at $659bn, the highest on our record.

Strong earnings keep X-asset dynamics tilted towards equities...Equities continued to

attract more inflows than bonds in July, while cash once again saw outflows. For now, corporate

fundamentals remain supportive and Q2 earnings are tracking well ahead of expectations. So

EPS revisions remain healthy, underpinning continued equity inflows and preference over

bonds.