War in the Middle East deterred investors in June, but did not cause panic. Equity funds saw outflows of £98m during the month (inflow of £525m in May), while bond funds saw inflows fall to £195m (£328m in May) and safe-haven money markets saw inflows rise to £218m (£85m in May).
Key highlights from this month's FFI:
- Equity funds saw outflows of £98m and safe-haven money market funds saw inflows rise
- No evidence of panic: a buyers’ strike caused capital to leave equity funds, not increased selling
- UK-focused funds and global funds saw the strongest outflows
- Special focus on active v passive funds:
- The switch to passive equity funds is accelerating
- Since 2015, £86bn has been added to passive equity funds – half of this in the last two years alone
- Since 2015, £21bn has been added to active funds, but in the last two years, £9bn has been withdrawn
- In June, investors committed £1.3bn of new capital to passive funds, focusing their selling on active ones and withdrawing £1.4bn