Crispin Odey, the London hedge fund manager who profited heavily from shorting UK banks last year, is now at his most bullish over the future of equities in 15 years and is “astounded” at the pessimism of other investors, who remain cautious about calling a market recovery too soon.

In a quarterly conference call to investors this morning, Odey said that since 1994, his hedge fund has had 30% average net exposure to the markets, but currently his fund is over 100% net long.