UK and European investors have been shunning UK equity funds and UK bond funds, according to the latest Morningstar asset flow data. Even though equity markets have been rallying and investors have been pouring money into other investments, UK funds have been left out in the cold.
"Downward economic data for the British economy has translated into reduced fund flows into UK equity funds [in January], despite an increasing appetite for equity funds more broadly,” said Morningstar analyst Ali Masarwah.
For the month of January, these were the three most unpopular fund categories in all of Europe:
- UK large-cap blend equity, which suffered outflows of €1.4 billion
- UK equity income funds, which suffered redemptions of €700 million
- GBP corporate bond funds, which suffered redemptions of €605 million
Scottish Widows, Liontrust, and HSBC were hit the hardest in terms of outflows from UK equity funds. M&G and Schroders suffered the most on the bond side.
Some other open-end fund categories that suffered outflows in January were France and Germany large-cap equity funds, and EUR government bond short-term funds.
The Worst Performing Fund Categories in January 2013
(Click images to enlarge.)
To learn more about January 2013 fund inflows and outflows, read "Record Inflows into Long-Term Funds" and "The Most-Loved Fund Categories".