UK needs to 'take a leaf' from US and China to turn around its popularity

How to fix the UK's unpopularity

Eve Maddock-Jones
clock • 4 min read

The unpopularity of UK-focused equity funds is somewhat undeniable, given that they have received no net new money since 2015, missing out on the £49bn invested in equities during that time, data from Calastone recently revealed.

The turning point to this unpopularity is debated, but a big catalyst was the Brexit referendum in 2016, as Ken Wotton, lead manager on the LF Gresham House UK Multi Cap Income fund, explained that a lot money "swiftly exited" UK funds after the vote "and since then it has been very volatile". John Husselbee, head of multi-asset at Liontrust Asset Management, said this trend had started as early as the 1990s when UK investors "discovered globalisation and global diversification", disrupting the domestic biases that had been held. Scottish Mortgage loses position as largest trust Ei...

To continue reading this article...

Join Investment Week for free

  • Unlimited access to real-time news, analysis and opinion from the investment industry, including the Sustainable Hub covering fund news from the ESG space
  • Get ahead of regulatory and technological changes affecting fund management
  • Important and breaking news stories selected by the editors delivered straight to your inbox each day
  • Weekly members-only newsletter with exclusive opinion pieces from leading industry experts
  • Be the first to hear about our extensive events schedule and awards programmes

Join now

 

Already an Investment Week
member?

Login

More on Funds

Morningstar downgrades Fundsmith Equity due to 'wrongly timed' exits

Morningstar downgrades Fundsmith Equity due to 'wrongly timed' exits

Adobe, Amazon, Estee Lauder and PayPal

clock 25 March 2024 • 1 min read
Robeco and Gravis partner for digital infrastructure fund launch

Robeco and Gravis partner for digital infrastructure fund launch

Growth and income focus

clock 21 March 2024 • 1 min read
Waystone teams up with Fulcrum AM to launch private markets LTAF

Waystone teams up with Fulcrum AM to launch private markets LTAF

Approved by FCA

Cristian Angeloni
clock 21 March 2024 • 1 min read
Trustpilot