Investors buy record level of short-term assets

Spooked investors nervous about the outlook for major economies around the globe are buying record amounts of short-term assets.

Data from the Office for National Statistics has shown £24bn went into short-term sterling assets in Q1; a record high since records began in 1983. The figures, contained within a note from Morgan Stanley's research team, give an indication of just how nervous investors remain, despite some progress being made to tackle the sovereign debt crisis in Europe. The extreme buying of short-term assets - which covers investments with a maturity of less than one year, including corporate bonds and gilts, as well as cash - is greater than the total annual level of net investment in the same se...