EUROPEAN investors, jittery over China’s economic health and reverberations of the eurozone crisis, kept cash allocations near three-year highs but lifted exposure to European assets as immediate concerns over the Greek crisis subsided.

    A monthly survey of 21 European investment managers found holdings of safe-haven cash in portfolios stood at 10.1 percent in June. That was within sight of last month’s 11.1 percent allocation, the highest since July 2012 when the intensifying euro debt crisis prompted European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi’s pledge to do “whatever it takes” to save the euro.

    A brutal six weeks for China’s mainland stock markets and weaker data fostering doubts over the health of the world’s second-largest economy, weighed on investors’ minds in the poll conducted July 16-30.

    “We see the high volatility on the Chinese equity market together with uncertainties about the real growth of their economy as the biggest risk,” said Koen Maes, global head of asset allocation at Candriam.

    Others voiced concerns that the eurozone could still suffer a crisis of confidence despite investors breathing a sigh of relief when Greece narrowly averted an exit from the bloc by striking an 11th-hour deal with lenders earlier last month.

    Despite those concerns, the survey showed fund managers had ramped their average recommended allocations in global bond portfolios for eurozone debt back up to levels last seen in March this year, before the newest Greek crisis peaked.

    Allocations to eurozone debt rose to 56.8 percent in July after hitting 51.8 in June — the lowest level since January. Exposure to U.S. and Canadian debt bounced back from June’s trough of 19.0 to hit 22.1 percent.(SD-Agencies)