Tech shares slumping has spilt over into demand for investment star Terry Smith’s flagship fund and retail favourite Fundsmith Equity.
Data provider FE Fundinfo said more than £1bn had been withdrawn from the fund in the three months to end-July 2022.
Fundsmith Equity still had £24.1bn under management on 29 July but jitters over the tech sector, which accounts for more than a quarter of the portfolio look to be taking a toll.
Smith is known as a stock picker and Fundsmith Equity has a small (29 stocks) portfolio of what he calls conviction stocks that meet a strict set of criteria including high returns on capital, strong market positions and protection from technical innovation.
That includes Facebook owner Meta, which has had a tough ride in 2022 shedding 51% of its value year to date, and Google owner Alphabet, which is down 21%.
Fundsmith Equity has seen an 8% dip since the start of 2022 even after a strong performance in July, which compares to a flat performance for its preferred comparison, the MSCI World index.
The fund has, however, fared considerably better than another retail investor darling, Scottish Mortgage Trust.
SMT has shed almost 39% of its value since the start of the year as its emphasis on US technology has turned slightly sour.
Shares in the Baillie Gifford trust trading today were trading at 820p against around 1,330p at the start of 2022 and giving it a value of around £11.8bn.