UK equity funds see record $1 billion outflows in April-Calastone

LONDON (Reuters) – UK-focused equity funds saw record outflows of 836 million pounds ($1.05 billion) in April due to a weak economic outlook for Britain, fund network Calastone said on Wednesday.

UK-based funds focused on North America also saw their second-highest outflows on record at 285 million pounds, Calastone said, as investors worry about inflation and shift attention to safe-haven assets.

“Investors are wary,” said Edward Glyn, head of global markets at Calastone. “Everywhere we look, risk-off trades are dominating the picture.”

Out of 49 billion pounds in equity fund investments tracked by Calastone since January 2015, no net new money has flowed into UK-focused funds, it said.

More than two-thirds of UK-based fund flows by value pass across the Calastone network each month.

($1 = 0.7971 pounds)

(Reporting by Carolyn Cohn; Editing by Bernadette Baum)