It’s a well-known fact that since the UK left the European Union in 2016, investing in UK equities has not been the most popular pastime of retail investors. According to the Investment Association (IA), this is a trend that has continued into 2023, with outflows from the IA UK All Companies sector of £6.6bn during the first seven months of the year.
The UK All Companies sector has been the worst seller in six of the seven calendar months of 2023, according to the IA, up until the latest numbers were recorded in July. This follows an unwanted run of poor sentiment, with the sector also being the worst seller in 2022 as investors have preferred short-term money market funds, corporate bonds and gilts.
See also: Premier Miton calls for ‘Great British ISA’ to boost UK equities
So are investors right to be passing over their own domestic market and what will it take for sentiment to change? In this month’s head to head, Darius McDermott, managing director of FundCalibre, argues investors need to look beyond the obvious when it comes to holding the UK; while Martin Walker, head of UK equities at Invesco, makes his case for why the region shouldn’t be ignored as an asset class.
Read Darius McDermott and Martin Walker’s comments in October’s Portfolio Adviser
