Retail investors return to funds in November

Risk appetite appears to tick back up; institutions withdraw huge sum from Money Markets.

Christopher J. Traulsen, CFA 24 December, 2008 | 2:53PM
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn
Retail investors added a net £1.04bn to UK domiciled funds in the month of November according to just released data from the local fund trade group. Institutions, on the other hand pulled a net £1.3bn out of UK domiciled funds in the period. One clear trend, however was that with the money they kept in funds, investors of both stripes appear willing to increase their exposures to riskier assets.

In the equity realm, for example, funds pulled in a net of £1bn. Of that, £567mn went to UK All Companies, with £269mn attributable to retail investors and £327.9mn to institutions. Other top-selling sectors included UK Equity Income (£252.5mn in net sales), Global Growth (£184.4mn in net sales), and Asia Pacific excluding Japan (£112mn in net sales). Even Global Emerging Markets pulled in £81.

8mn, of which £16.7mn came from retail investors. Europe ex-UK experienced the large net outflow, with £135.9mn in net outflows in November. In one notable divergence, retail investors pulled £101mn out of the Specialist sector, whilst institutions added a net £46.6mn to the group. Property funds saw net outflows of £140mn from retail investors.

Investors also added substantially to bond funds, putting in a net £434mn in the month. By far the best selling sector was £ Corporate Bond, with net inflows of £459mn, of which £339mn came from retail investors. In contrast, UK Gilts had a net outflow of £151mn. The pattern suggests that investors might finally be seeing value in the extremely wide spreads in the beaten-down corporate arena. There may also be a structural element of rebalancing as year-end approaches.

One other point of note was a massive net outflow of institutional money from the UK Money Market sector. In all, institutions pulled £1.75bn from money market funds in the November, far more than in any month during the credit crisis (the next largest institutional outflow was in June 2008, at £657.8mn).

The information contained within is for educational and informational purposes ONLY. It is not intended nor should it be considered an invitation or inducement to buy or sell a security or securities noted within nor should it be viewed as a communication intended to persuade or incite you to buy or sell security or securities noted within. Any commentary provided is the opinion of the author and should not be considered a personalised recommendation. The information contained within should not be a person's sole basis for making an investment decision. Please contact your financial professional before making an investment decision.

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn

About Author

Christopher J. Traulsen, CFA  is director of fund research, Europe and Asia, Morningstar.

© Copyright 2024 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved.

Terms of Use        Privacy Policy        Modern Slavery Statement        Cookie Settings        Disclosures