Despite the FTSE 100 recently reaching an all-time high, UK-focused equity funds nevertheless suffered their third-worst month of outflows on record in January. Investors withdrew a net £868m from their holdings, according to the latest Fund Flow Index from Calastone, the largest global funds network. For every £1 of sell orders of UK-focused funds, Calastone saw just 59p of buy orders in January – no other fund sector saw a mismatch this large, and not a single trading day saw net buying.
Key highlights from this month’s FFI:
- UK investors sold down UK-focused funds in January despite strong market performance -outflows were third largest on record
- UK-focused funds have suffered 20 consecutive months of outflows
- Since 2015, investors have sold £7.3bn of UK-focused funds and bought £58.0bn of international ones
- Global funds enjoyed inflows in January as world markets continued their rebound
- Fixed income funds saw second highest inflow on record in January – reflecting allure of higher yields and hopes for falling inflation
View this edition of the FFI in full