Seismic shift from UK to global equity funds in UK portfolios

Still some way to go

Long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away (June 2018 in IPE magazine to be exact), I noted that UK equities were a pariah asset. The influential Bank of America Merrill Lynch report stated that they were the most unpopular asset in April of that year.

The largest outflows from Lipper's Equity UK and Equity UK Income classifications combined were during Covid (£15.9bn in 2020). Prior to this, the largest redemptions were in 2016, at £10.3bn. Bank of England ramps up temporary QE Those with a keen sense of recent history might be aware of the year's significance, but there is more going on here than Brexit. Indeed, over the longer term, that's just a blip (see chart 1). UK equity funds have been squeezed for some considerable time. Conversely, global funds have been increasing relative to UK investors' domestic equity holdings. In...