Retail investors continued to remove billions of pounds from funds in recent weeks.
Investors pulled £2.36bn from equity funds in September, according to industry specialists Calastone, taking the total for the third quarter to £4.7bn.
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Since the bear market began in January, the net flight from equity funds has reached £6.63bn.
With three months still to go, this makes it already the worst year for equity funds since the research began eight years ago.
UK-focused funds were the hardest hit in September, amid a sharp selloff that also hit the pound and gilts after the government’s ill-judged ‘mini budget’.
But funds focused on every geography saw outflows, Calastone said, with records broken for US equity funds and those investing in emerging markets.
US equity funds shed a net £497mln, while the strains caused by the strength of the US dollar and the economic slowdown in China drove £116mln net out of emerging market funds and £223mln from Asia-Pacific.
Data from the Investment Association (IA) today revealed August saw £3bn of outflows from open-ended equity funds, the highest monthly outflow on record, driven by £1bn from UK equities and £0.5bn from global equities.
In total there was a net £2.6bn withdrawn from open-ended investment companies, as equity outflows were offset by bond fund inflows of just over £1bn.
The level of outflows measured by the IA was much increased from the £129mln in July, but not as bad as the £4.5bn in June, which was the worst month of the year and the second highest on record.
The sterling strategic bond sector was the best-selling in August, with inflows of £288mln.
Responsible investment funds saw inflows of £109mln.
Tracker funds and ETFs saw inflows of £412mln, the second-weakest month of the year, echoing findings from investment platforms in September as investors steer clear of passive funds when the market direction is less clear.
Chris Cummings, IA chief executive, said: “While August is traditionally a quieter month for fund sales, political and economic uncertainty continued to leave savers navigating challenging market dynamics.”
Bond funds saw inflows, but in most IA sectors, sales have weakened or turned to outflow. Outflows from equity funds rose as the outlook for economic growth globally continued to slow, taking total outflows from funds to £2.6bn compared with the modest -£129mln in July.
“UK households are heading into a challenging autumn and winter and grappling with a cost-of-living crisis, which may have an impact on their ability to put money aside. With market dynamics in a state of flux, we could see investors react to the surging yield on gilts and UK corporate bonds, or bide their time until we see a period of relative calm.”