Chip index’s climb is giving fund managers a fear of heights, Bank of America finds

Bank of America’s global fund-manager survey suggests semiconductor stocks are now viewed as the market’s most crowded long trade, even after the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index hit another all-time high and jumped 5%. The article says the iShares Semiconductor ETF is up 99% year to date, highlighting how sharply chip exposure has rallied across global names such as Taiwan Semiconductor, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. Despite the strong performance, investors appear reluctant to de-risk, with BofA’s Bull & Bear Indicator still in sell-signal territory and cash levels only modestly higher. The survey also shows rising expectations for Fed rate hikes, while inflation and an AI bubble remain key tail risks. The piece frames the broader message as one of “frozen bulls”: investors are uneasy about stretched positioning in semiconductors, but not yet selling aggressively.