Hedge funds who have tried to make money out of European banks during the euro debt crisis are becoming frustrated with the sector's erratic movements just as some bigger, and more patient, institutions are dipping tentatively back in. European bank stocks have risen more than 25 percent since late July, fuelled by relief over new crisis-fighting plans, in particular the ECB's latest announcements which have triggered hopes of a more lasting solution.
But the sector at the root of the global financial crisis has repeatedly disappointed investors after each attempt to call a floor, from a rally at the beginning of 2009 on hopes that the worst of the global credit crunch was over to short-lived optimism over the European Central Bank's liquidity injections.
In addition, scandals and increasing regulatory demands have been shrinking returns on equity while economic recession is likely to keep loan growth on the ropes for years to come. That has prompted at least some hedge funds to pull out, while mutual funds and other institutional investors are stock-picking only with considerable caution, reluctant to call any sustained rally in the unchartered territory of the euro crisis.
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