Investors are still betting big on sovereign debt from struggling euro zone countries even as European banks offload their investments in an attempt to meet strict new capital rules.
Global investment firm Pimco, which manages some of the biggest bond funds in the world and has $1.97 trillion under management, has outlined its bullishness on Italian and Spanish debt in its latest quarterly outlook.
“We are overweight Italy and Spain sovereign debt in our portfolios, balancing the cyclical outlook, where we expect the ECB (European Central Bank) to maintain stability,” Andrew Balls, managing director and head of European portfolio management at Pimco, said in client note on Tuesday afternoon.
“The size, liquidity and systemic importance of the Italian and Spanish markets make them our preferred source of peripheral risk.”