UK savers looked to diversify risk throughout March, with global equity and mixed asset funds benefitting in the first quarter of the year.
Global was the best-selling sector, seeing £691 million (€805 million) in net retail sales – the largest inflow into the sector for March on record, according to data published by the Investment Association, the UK’s asset management trade body.
Fixed income was the best-selling asset class, experiencing inflows of £810 million, the highest since January 2018. Money market was the second best-selling asset type, seeing net retail sales of £127 million.
Although the year got off to a rocky start, with £2.4 billion of outflows in the first quarter, funds under management increased to £1.2 trillion, buoyed by fund performance.
“Ongoing economic and Brexit uncertainty continued to impact Europe and UK equity funds,” said IA chief executive Chris Cummings. Savers pulled out £1.4 billion and £816 million from both respectively, according to the figures.
The UK all companies sector saw investors pulling out £365 million, according to the IA, marking two years of continuous outflows.
“The UK continues to be sharply out of favour, while global funds are enjoying a long spell in the limelight,” said Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at financial service company Hargreaves Lansdown.
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