Retail investors withdraw funds from UK equity funds for the tenth consecutive year

Gelonghui, February 7th｜According to the Financial Times, last year, despite the UK stock market achieving its strongest performance in 16 years, it failed to prevent large-scale capital outflows from mutual funds focused on UK equities. According to data from the industry association "Investment Association," retail investors made a net withdrawal of £11.1 billion from UK equity funds in 2025, marking the tenth consecutive year of outflows. Over the past decade, the scale of retail investor withdrawals from UK equity funds has soared to £71 billion. This phenomenon comes as UK Chancellor Reeves strives to boost the UK stock market and declares this to be "the beginning of a new golden era for the City of London." Les Halaf, Head of Investment Analysis at fund platform AJBell, stated: "UK equity funds have performed poorly over the past decade. Part of the reason is the dazzling allure of Silicon Valley, which has attracted capital across the Atlantic. Another reason is that self-directed investors are more inclined to invest in domestic stocks, so they have less need for fund managers to manage their investments."