Canadian investment advisors are increasingly bullish outlook on financials in the second quarter of 2008, according to survey released today by Horizons BetaPro.

Advisors conveyed a 41% bullish outlook for Canadian financials in the survey, a reversal from the first quarter which saw 47% of advisors project a more bearish outlook.

“We are seeing a growing bullish shift on financials, despite the significantly poor performance of the financials index as accurately forecasted by advisors during the last sentiment survey,” says Howard Atkinson, president, BetaPro Management Inc.

“Compared to last quarter, advisors see the recent acts by the central banks in decreasing interest rates as having positive effects on financials and easing the concerns over their balance sheets,” he says.

The bullish shift in financials is coupled with a notably weakened bullish sentiment toward the global gold index and gold bullion, marking the first quarter in the last six where advisors responded with less than a 70% bullish outlook for bullion and gold stocks.

The dominance in resources has continued, led by agricultural grains, global mining and natural gas.

“Outlooks for grains and natural gas remain bullish, even after the strong gains recorded last quarter. Advisors see sustained pricing and a continued strong demand for these commodities with no end yet to the successful run,” Atkinson says.

The survey of Canadian investment advisors measures advisors’ quarterly outlook as it relates to 13 key benchmarks covering equities, bonds, currency and commodities.

Full survey results are available at http://www.hbpetfs.com/quartely_sentiment_survey.asp.