Fund pickers reassess UK equity fund exposure as Brexit fears weaken sterling

Concerns over weakening sterling

Daniel Flynn
clock • 3 min read

Fund pickers are shunning UK equity funds and hedging their sterling exposure as currency volatility looks set to continue in the run-up to June's EU referendum, with the pound hitting a seven-year low last week on fresh Brexit concerns.

London Mayor Boris Johnson's announcement he is backing the ‘out' campaign led the pound to fall 1.7% versus the dollar to $1.41 last Monday, its worst daily performance since May 2010. It subsequently continued to fall to $1.39, its weakest level since 2009. Gosling's Grouse: Hot air and egos over Brexit With analysts at Citi estimating the chances of a Brexit have risen to 40% since David Cameron set the EU referendum date for 23 June, wealth managers are continuing to swap small- and mid-cap UK equity exposure for other sectors and regions. Rob Burdett, co-head of the multi-manag...

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