Bank of America survey: Asian software and platform stocks become the top AI trading choices for the next 12 months

A Bank of America survey shows that Asian software and platform stocks have quickly gained favor with investors, becoming the most attractive AI trade in the region after being at the bottom of the rankings just over a month ago. In a report on September 15, strategists including Kaspar Lam wrote that a quarter of respondents chose this category as their top AI trade in Asia for the next 12 months, the highest share among options including storage and data centers. In August, this theme ranked near the bottom, only above AI computing power. This trend indicates that investors may be shifting AI trades from stocks of companies building computing power to those that can prove AI-driven profitability. As some AI leaders call for a slowdown in development due to security concerns, this shift may benefit Indian AI software stocks. The Bank of America survey also shows that monetization is becoming a bigger factor for investors to increase holdings in AI-related stocks, with 80% of respondents citing it as key to boosting confidence, up from 64% in August.