Investors have withdrawn more than $1tn from UK-focused equity funds since the EU referendum in 2016 as concerns mount about the damaging impact of Brexit on Britain’s corporate sector.
Extreme uncertainty for business due to Brexit confusion plus the prospect of a hard left Labour government led by Jeremy Corbyn have tarnished the appeal of UK equity funds, which have haemorrhaged $1.01tn of net outflows since June 2016, according to EPFR, a data provider.
Investors have pulled money from UK equity funds every week since the UK voted to leave the EU. Outflows surged to $19.4bn in the week when Prime Minister Theresa May presented the draft withdrawal plan to the cabinet, the highest level of outflows since the 2007-08 global financial crisis. In the 12 months preceding the Brexit vote, UK equity funds attracted inflows of $127bn.