LONDON, April 5 (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)
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