Sitting in the corner is miserable while the party is in full swing. Yet, while the S&P 500 is up 60 per cent from its March trough, US retail investors have so far watched the rally from the sidelines. Mutual and exchange-traded funds dedicated to US equities have seen a net $53bn walk out the door this year, according to EPFR Global. Meanwhile, some $3,300bn is sitting in money market mutual funds that yield virtually no income, down from a crisis-time peak of $3,800bn. Cash leaving the safety of those funds has so far been put to work in bonds. So boosters for the equity market rally, eyeing still subdued trading volumes, are waiting for the party-poopers to join the dance.

The odd foot may have started to tap. Funds investing in US equities saw inflows of about $3bn in the week to October 21, including ETFs. Excluding ETFs, which are winning market share but remain volatile, US equity funds are still suffering small outflows – although the rate has slowed. Then there are US bond funds. Inflows to these are now slowing, as investors opt instead for international debt, commodities and foreign equities. Appetite for emerging market equities is particularly strong, attracting record amounts of investor cash.