The index – which shows the difference between those who hold a positive view and those who hold a negative view each month for each type of investment – shows that net sentiment among investors in UK equities increased to +40 at the start of the month, up 2% from January, with 48% of respondents holding a positive view and 8% holding a negative one.

This is in sharp contrast to the start of the survey in March 2013, when the figure was +16, with only 34% positive view and 17% negative.

However, the index shows there was a small flight to safety away from Japan and emerging markets in early February.

Sentiment towards emerging market shares saw a decrease of 5% to +14 this month, possibly reflecting recent worries about Argentina and China.

Japanese equities saw their sharpest drop in net sentiment in the survey’s history, falling 10% from the previous month to +3.

However, the perceived ‘safe havens’ of gold and government bonds saw a rise in sentiment, up 8% and 1% respectively.

Meanwhile, investor sentiment towards eurozone equities remained low at -23, which is down 2% from last month. However, this is a substantial improvement of the -59 in April 2013.

Ashish Misra, head of investment policy at Lloyds Bank Private Banking, said: “This is positive for UK investors as we see faith in the UK shares as well as other UK asset classes increasing. With Europe slowly edging out of the recession, positive UK GDP data and a strong domestic property investment, it is likely that investors’ view towards UK equities is reflective of this.

“Of interest this month is that there has been a tangible shift in investor preference away from riskier assets like equities and emerging markets towards perceived ‘safe haven’ asset classes like government debt and gold. Investor sentiment for next month will be quite intriguing, as we look to compare our data over the year since the survey began.”