Seventy-two percent of European respondents to the survey said they believe Europe will experience recession in the coming year, up from 37 percent in October. Fears of a global recession have eased. Thirty-one percent of investors surveyed felt the world economy would dodge a recession in the next 12 months, up from 25 percent last month.

For the first time, the survey asked global investors what they foresee for China’s economy. Seventy-eight percent said they expect China’s economy to grow by more than 7 percent during the year. Only 25 percent of those surveyed thought China’s economy would weaken in the coming year, down from 47 percent in October.

Investors’ belief in emerging markets is reflected in increased allocations to commodities and commodity-related equities. Global asset allocators have moved from underweight commodities in October to neutral this month. The biggest positive swings in equity allocations were in energy and materials. One percent of allocators are underweight materials, down from 9 percent in October. The proportion of allocators overweight energy stocks stands at 20 percent, up from 11 percent a month ago.

Emerging markets and the U.S. are the regions that investors feel most positively about. A net 28 percent say they would like to overweight emerging market equities more than any other region, while a net 18 percent opt for the U.S. A net 29 percent would most want to underweight the eurozone.