UK Investors Add $1.2 Billion to Equity Funds in March – Calastone

LONDON (Reuters) – UK investors shrugged off fears about the banking sector in March and put 960 million pounds ($1.2 billion) overall into equity funds, in a reversal of the outflows seen in January and February, funds network Calastone said on Wednesday.

Equity funds saw their biggest net inflows in March since December 2021, Calastone said, although UK-focused funds still saw overall outflows for the 22nd month running.

Global-focused equity funds saw 1.69 billion pounds of inflows, while UK-focused equity lost 747 million pounds.

London’s FTSE 100 lost around 3.1% in March, having taken a hit from fears about a global banking meltdown.

“The large share of UK-focused funds in investor portfolios makes them an obvious source of cash for those keen to reduce overall equity exposure,” Edward Glyn, head of global markets at Calastone, said.

“The increasing perception of the London stock market as an investment backwater, along with the political and economic difficulties the country has been facing, have kept the pressure on to rebalance holdings away from UK shares,” he added.

Property funds saw net withdrawals for the eighth month in a row, although the 15 million pounds pulled by investors overall was lower than the last eight months’ average outflow of 58 million pounds.

Fears about the health of banks in the U.S. and in Europe in March had “no noticeable impact on property funds” Calastone said, citing daily trading figures.

($1 = 0.8004 pounds)

(Reporting by Elizabeth Howcroft; Editing by Andrew Heavens)