Investor Positioning and Flows

Latest edition · August 28, 2026

Investor Positioning and Flows Aug 31

Aggregate equity positioning edged up slightly to remain modestly overweight at 0.30sd (62nd percentile), supported by systematic strategies while discretionary positioning remains neutral. US equity funds registered their first outflows in five weeks (-$4.4bn) despite robust inflows into Tech ($4.6bn) and global funds.

Deutsche Bank's weekly positioning tracker shows aggregate equity positioning hovering sideways at modestly overweight levels (0.30sd, 62nd percentile). Systematic strategies' positioning remains elevated at 0.70sd (82nd percentile), with Vol Control funds at historical maximums (100th percentile), creating asymmetric flow risks if volatility rises. In contrast, discretionary positioning remains neutral (-0.02sd, 45th percentile) as AAII bearish sentiment surged to an 11-week high. Fund flows saw total equity inflows slow sharply to $9.2bn, led by -$4.4bn of US outflows, while Tech sector funds absorbed $4.6bn and bond funds attracted $17.7bn.

Key takeaways from the latest edition

• 1.Aggregate equity positioning ticked up slightly and remains modestly overweight at 0.30sd (62nd percentile), driven by systematic strategies at 0.70sd (82nd percentile) while discretionary positioning is neutral at -0.02sd (45th percentile).
• 2.Vol Control funds' equity allocation reached historical maximums (100th percentile), creating an asymmetric risk of outflows if equity volatility picks up.
• 3.US equity funds experienced their first weekly outflow in five weeks (-$4.4bn), even as broad global funds (+$9.9bn), Japan (+$2.7bn), and broad EM (+$2.3bn) saw inflows.

What this series covers

• DB S&P 500 Forecasts
• Our Recent Publications
• Consolidated Equity Positioning
• Sector Positioning
• Volatility-Sensitive Systematic Strategies
• Vol-Control funds allocations
• CTA portfolio weights
• Risk-Parity funds portfolio weights
• Investor Sentiment
• Equity Short Interest
• Option Metrics
• S&P 500 Options: Vol, Skew, Correlation
• Equity funds beta to the S&P 500
• Cross-Asset Fund Flows
• Equity Fund Flows
• Bond Fund Flows
• Cross-Asset Futures Positioning
• Equity Futures Positioning
• Bond Futures Positioning
• FX Futures Positioning
• Commodity Futures Positioning
• Buybacks Tracker
• Appendix
• Sectors Equity Positioning
• Appendix 1
• Important Disclosures
• Analyst Certification
• Equity rating dispersion and banking relationships
• Equity Rating and Dispersion Key
• Additional Information

Edition archive

• Investor Positioning and Flows Aug 31

  August 28, 2026

• Investor Positioning and Flows - Aug 10

  August 7, 2026

• DB - Investor Positioning and Flows- Rotating On Cue Again

  July 31, 2026

• Investor Positioning - Strategy Update and Flows The Boom And The Gloom

  July 24, 2026

• Investor Positioning and Flows - July 20

  July 17, 2026

• Investor Positioning and Flows

  July 10, 2026