Over half of UK and EU domiciled funds are under £100m

Calls for closure and consolidation

57% of UK and EU domiciled funds are under £100m, according to figures from Refinitiv for Investment Week. Experts said the figures were “surprising”, with some calling for closure and consolidation of funds.

According to Refinitiv, at the end of March there were 29,353 funds domiciled across the UK and EU and of these, 16,798 were under £100m. Gavin Haynes, investment consultant at Fairview Investing, and Ryan Hughes, head of investment research at AJ Bell, both said the figures were "surprising". "The sheer number of funds available in itself does seem quite ridiculous and there is undoubtedly a large number of funds that provide little differentiation," commented Haynes. Hughes said, particularly with the growth of ESG, there has been an increase in the number of fund launches which ...