Calm before the storm: Investors pour £4.2bn into UK funds before virus panic

Fixed income funds see strongest inflows

Recent figures from the Investment Association (IA) have shown that UK retail funds raked in £4.2bn of net inflows in January, a 16% increase on the previous month and the biggest monthly inflow since January 2018, before markets were hit by coronavirus panic.

The largest inflows were seen into fixed income funds, which gathered £1.7bn, more than three times the amount of money that went into these products last January. Meanwhile, the best-selling sector was Mixed Investment 40%-85% Shares, which attracted £370m during January. This was followed closely by Global Bonds with £358m of inflows and £ Corporate Bond, taking in £309m. ESG, fixed income and active ETFs lead global demand However, gilts did not fare as well, with UK Index Linked Gilts being the worst seller during the month, suffering outflows of £161m. Bonds were not the on...