Global investors have started 2012 with a reawakened sense of optimism towards the global economy and greater appetite for risk, according to the BofA Merrill Lynch Survey of Fund Managers for January. The global survey of 214 institutional investors shows far fewer predicting a global slowdown. Only a net 3 per cent believe the world economy will weaken in the coming 12 months down from a net 27 per cent in December – the biggest one-month improvement in the growth outlook since May 2009. Many investors are showing more appetite to take risk. BofA Merrill Lynch's Composite Risk and Liquidity Indicator is the highest since July 2011, before the sovereign debt crisis fully emerged. Cash levels have fallen to their lowest levels since July 2011. Cash now makes up, on average, 4.4 per cent of a portfolio, down from 4.9 per cent in December. The proportion of investors taking lower than normal levels of risk has improved to a net 33 per cent of the panel, compared to a net 42 per cent in December.