UK investors shrugged off concerns over bank failures in the US and Switzerland in March and turned decisively more positive on equity markets. They added a net £960m to their holdings, the best month for equity funds since December 2021. March marked a significant turnaround from outflows seen in January and February. Over the whole of the first quarter, just £199m flowed into equity funds.
Key highlights from this month's FFI:
- Equity funds enjoy £960m of inflows in March, reversing a run of investor pessimism
- Global funds scooped most of the new cash, but investors are switching out of UK-focused and European equity funds; emerging markets also saw strong inflows
- Uptick in confidence benefited passive funds in particular
- ESG gold rush may have peaked – inflows have fallen sharply
- Fixed income funds enjoyed a record first quarter with inflows of £2.75bn