Terry Smith’s £16bn global equity fund was the most searched for active fund in the third quarter, according to data from Square Mile, beating out heavyweights Neil Woodford and Martin Cholwill.
Fundsmith Equity climbed 11 places to the top of the research provider’s list of 50 most viewed active funds quarter-on-quarter, garnering 1.6% of the 54,000 total views on its website during the period.
It knocked Woodford’s £5.6bn UK Equity Income fund off the top spot as the most viewed active fund where it had been for the last two quarters.
Smith’s fund also leapt over fellow IA Global sector heavyweight Baillie Gifford Global Alpha Growth fund, as well as the Royal London UK Equity fund run by Cholwill.
Investors generally risk-averse
Smith’s popularity has soared despite the fact that investors have been increasingly looking to de-risk.
Though equity funds remained the most popular search item for Square Mile users, the number of visitor views fell from 60% in Q2 to 56% in Q3.
Meanwhile searches for multi-asset funds and fixed income funds were up 1% and 3% respectively, representing 23% and 20% of total views.
The Artemis US Absolute Return strategy was the second highest viewed active fund, despite only joining the research provider’s Academy of Funds this July. It was given an A rating upon entering the rankings.
Baillie Gifford Strategic Bond fund was the third most popular active fund and fixed income fund on the site, jumping from 42nd on the list last quarter. However Square Mile noted the increased viewership coincides with the release of its ‘Talking Factsheet’ on the fund.
Train snubbed as investors curious about Merian
Nick Train’s gargantuan was a notable omission from the Academy of Funds’ top searches of the quarter.
His £5.7bn UK equity fund did not make the top 50 though his boutique firm was the 51st most viewed management group on the Square Mile website.
Standard Life Investments was the most searched for fund group with 6.7% of the views, comfortably separated from the second and third most popular groups Artemis Fund Managers (5.2%) and Legal & General Investment Management (4.6%).
Fidelity International and Jupiter tied for fourth most viewed with 4.3% of the total views along with Richard Buxton’s newly separated business Merian Global Investors.
Merian had six funds appear in the top 50 most viewed active funds, including Merian Global Equity which snuck into 10th place.
