Investors expect to pour more money into hedge funds this year than they will withdraw for the first time since 2007, reflecting cautious confidence about the industry and the financial markets more broadly.

The turnaround in sentiment is captured in a Deutsche Bank survey of investors, distributed to clients today. The majority of respondents said they expect to see more than $100bn (€73.1) of net assets flow into hedge funds in 2010. That comes after two years of net outflows, with investors having withdrawn hundreds of billions of dollars more than they put into funds during 2008 and 2009 combined.