Having previously looked at which smaller companies have been attracting money over the last 12 months, the focus turns to the larger strategies that have been bolstered by investors capital over the course of the year.
A year which started positively after the election of Boris Johnson promised to bring an end to Brexit uncertainty which has troubled the sector since 2016. However, any optimism soon dissipated as the Covid-19 pandemic struck with the UK struggling more than most in keeping cases and fatalities down.
As such, Trustnet has looked at funds over £1bn within the IA UK All Companies sector which have added to their funds under management since September last year.
It’s worth noting that the approximate inflow data used in the table is not the same as net inflows. This data, which is compiled from FE Analytics is calculated based on the underlying change in size attributable to the rate of flows over the year period.
Some 20 UK strategies have recorded inflows over the last 12 months, 11 passive strategies and nine active funds.
Passive strategies have accumulated the largest level of inflows which is worth looking at, but the main focus of this study is on active funds.
Inflows to passive UK strategies over 1yr
Source: FE Analytics
Inflows to index and tracker funds is indicative of investor sentiment when they believe a recovery is imminent and after election in December of last year, global investors came back to the UK buying FTSE trackers.
The recipient of the largest amount of inflows was the Vanguard FTSE UK All Shares Index Unit Trust, which saw approximately £2.5bn go into the fund, followed by the iShares UK Equity Index which saw roughly £1.6bn in inflows. The State Street UK Equity Index fund also saw its size increase to over £7bn.
Turning to actively managed funds, at the top of the list is the £5.6bn Liontrust Special Situations fund, managed by FE fundinfo Alpha Managers, Anthony Cross and Julian Fosh.
Taking approximately £686.2m in inflows over the year period, it accounts for the largest level of inflows amongst the active strategies.
Inflows to active UK strategies over 1yr
Source: FE Analytics
Among the fund’s top-10 holdings are Covid-19 beneficiaries, such as Unilever and Reckitt Benckiser which make up approximately 7.7 per cent of the fund.
Speaking in July, Cross said: “We believe that our businesses, with their strong barriers to competition, attractive market positions and history of high returns, are in a good position to navigate this difficult time.”
A difficult year for all UK funds, the fund was one of just two from our study to achieve positive returns over one year, with a return of 0.23 per cent. The IA UK All Companies sector is down 8.34 per cent since October 2019.
Second-placed is the £3.7bn TB Evenlode Income fund, which has taken approximately £601m in inflows over the last 12 months. It has been managed by Alpha Manager Hugh Yarrow since launch in 2009 and was joined by co-manager Ben Peters in 2012.
Inflows over the last 12 months has seen the Schroders PW Multi-Manager UK Equity Focus fund cross £1bn mark. Adding approximately £394.7m to its size in that time, it now stands at £1.5bn. Managed by the Schroder Investment Management Team since the end of last year, Unilever is also within the fund’s top holdings alongside cyclical oil stocks, Royal Dutch Shell and BP. This could lend itself to explaining the more extreme losses over the last six months and year period.
The JO Hambro UK Dynamic fund has endured a difficult few years of negative performance, and yet has attracted inflows of approximately £363m in the last year.
The fund, which has been overseen by Alpha Manager Alex Savvides since launch in 2008, is popular among advisers, having returned 126.4 per cent over the 12-year period compared to 83.83 per cent for the average IA UK All Companies sector peer.
The last on the list of funds with inflows over £300m, is the Ninety One UK Alpha fund, run by Simon Brazier. The past 12 months has seen the fund grow to more than £2bn.
Performance of active strategies with inflows over £300m
Source: FE Analytics
The strongest performer on the list with inflows under £300m is the CFP SDL UK Buffettology fund, managed by Alpha Manager Keith Ashworth-Lord –a disciple of value investor Warren Buffett – and a top performer over the long-term. It was the only other fund in our study to make a positive return over one year making 3.78 per cent.
With approximately £173.5m in inflows over the last year, the Franklin UK Mid Cap fund has been taken over the £1bn threshold since this time last year. The only dedicated mid-cap strategy on the list, it is run by Richard Bullas, Mark Hall, Dan Green and Marcus Tregoning.
Performance of active strategies with inflows under £300m
Source: FE Analytics
The Man GLG Undervalued Assets and Jupiter UK Special Situations funds have had a more modest level of inflows compared to its peers, although these two value strategies both struggled – making double-digit losses – as investors favoured growth stocks after the pandemic-inspired sell-off in March.