AAII Asset Allocation Survey: Here’s Your Update on Demand for Stocks

Individual investors boosted their equity allocations last month to nearly an 18-month high, according to the January AAII Asset Allocation Survey.

AAII members allocated 61.4% of their portfolios to stocks and stock funds last month, an increase of 2.8 percentage points. This is the highest equity allocations have been since July 2011. The historical average is 60%.

Fixed-income allocations declined 0.6 percentage points to 20.2%. This is a six-month low and the fourth consecutive monthly drop. Even with the decrease, fixed-income allocations remained above their historical average of 16% for the 43rd consecutive month.

Cash allocations dropped 2.2 percentage points to 18.4%. This is a four-month low. Cash allocations have been below their historical average of 24% for 14 consecutive months.

The increased allocation to stocks and stock funds is…