Tom McManus, chief investment strategist at Banc of America...

Tom McManus, chief investment strategist at Banc of America Securities, raised the equity allocation in his model portfolio for institutional investors with a midterm to long-term investment outlook to 70%, from 60% less than two weeks ago. Mr. McManus had held that 60% weighting since February 2000, said John Roehm, a company spokesman. "This is the first real positive stance he has taken in a long time,” Mr. Roehm said. Mr. McManus has reduced his allocation to bonds to 25% from 35%.