Despite deficits and economic woes in the US, hedge fund managers say that the dollar is their preferred currency over the next three months, saying that the euro are likely to fare relatively badly due to problems such as the Greek debt crisis, a survey shows.

Six in 10 managers surveyed by TrimTabs Investment Research and BarclayHedge said their preferred major currency was the greenback.

Almost 26 per cent of hedge fund managers expected a quick resolution of the Greek crisis, which has raised fears that the euro could collapse as a currency project if the southern European nation has to exit the euro zone. However, only 15 per cent of the respondents to the survey reckon the euro is doomed.

“The debt crisis in Greece and the US dollar rally have drawn the attention of market participants to currencies,” said Vincent Deluard, Global Equity Strategist at TrimTabs. “We think currencies will be a dominant investment theme throughout 2010,” he said.

“The euro is one of the few successes of the European Union in the past 10 years,” said Mr Deluard.  “France and Germany are likely to protect it if the problems in Greece spread to other Euro zone members,” he said.

Meanwhile, the overwhelming majority of managers expect yields on the 10-year US Treasury to hold steady or fall, suggesting that investors are expected to demand a higher yield for the risk of holding US government bonds.

Only 7 per cent of respondents expect the yield to drop, the survey found.

The TrimTabs/BarclayHedge currency survey of hedge fund managers summarizes the opinions of a wide range of hedge fund managers every month.  Respondents have assets under management averaging $113 million and reaching as high as $3 billion.