Russia’s invasion of Ukraine prompted the biggest flight from equity funds since the Brexit referendum, according to our latest Fund Flow Index.

Latest in from our UK FFI: Russian invasion of Ukraine sparks biggest flight from #equity funds since the Brexit vote: https://t.co/HPpdSPAl56 #brexit #russiaukrainewar pic.twitter.com/r99Z1T0ZjS

— Calastone (@CalastoneLtd) April 7, 2022

UK investors withdrew a net £1.53bn of capital from their equity holdings in March, just shy of the record £1.56bn they redeemed following the UK vote to quit the EU.

Key highlights from this month’s FFI:

• Equity funds saw net outflow of £1.53bn in March, the largest outflow since July 2016
• Active decisions to sell were the main driver of outflows, rather than a buyers’ strike
• Outflows rose steadily each week in March before tailing off at the end of the month as Russia’s failure to advance  became increasingly obvious and markets recovered
• Global equity funds saw the biggest outflows, but UK-focused equities were relatively protected by a heavy weighting of oil and commodity stocks
• ESG funds continued to enjoy inflows, though at lower levels
• Fixed income funds also suffered outflows – second-worst month since pandemic began

To read further insights from the FFI, please click through this link.

Source: Calastone