UK Investors Chase North American Equity Inflows as Cash Defences Ease

Investment Association (IA) data for April 2026 shows north American equity inflows of £932.2 million, the highest monthly figure for the sector since April 2025, as UK retail investors recorded a sixth consecutive month of net inflows and began unwinding positions in money market funds. The wire figure cited by several outlets was £860 million; the IA’s own press release gives £932.2 million, and that is the figure used here.

Miranda Seath, Director, Market Insight and Fund Sectors at the IA, framed the run plainly: ‘Six months of consecutive inflows is a meaningful signal that retail investors have not been shaken from their long-term plans, even as the investment landscape has remained far from straightforward.’

The backdrop helped. The MSCI World Index returned 9.6% in April in US dollar terms, its strongest monthly gain since 2020. Overall monthly retail inflows rose to £1.5 billion, up from £1.3 billion in March. Total industry funds under management reached £1.66 trillion by the end of April, compared with £1.46 trillion twelve months earlier.

North American Equity Inflows Dominate the Sector Rankings

The IA’s April 2026 best and worst-selling sector table underlines how concentrated the rotation was:

Within the North America figure, tracker funds accounted for £1.2 billion of inflows, with active North American funds in net outflow. That pattern held across the broader equity universe: equity index trackers attracted £1.7 billion while actively managed equity funds shed £2.4 billion. Tracker funds under management across all asset classes stood at £422 billion at end-April, representing 25.3% of total industry funds under management, supported by net retail inflows into trackers of £1.84 billion for the month.

Technology funds added £96 million, their first monthly inflow in seven months, as earnings from Alphabet (GOOGL), Meta (META), Amazon (AMZN) and Nvidia (NVDA) each beat analyst estimates. According to Bloomberg, 84% of the 485 S&P 500 companies that had reported first-quarter results by end-April surpassed forecasts. Regional equity funds outside North America moved in the opposite direction: UK equity funds lost £673 million, global emerging markets £477 million, Asia £399 million, and Europe £244 million.

Money Market Funds Post First Outflow Since August 2025

The clearest sign of shifting sentiment came from money market funds. April brought an outflow of £755 million, the first since August 2025, reversing a trend that had peaked with record inflows of £2.01 billion in March. Those March inflows had been driven in part by fears over the Middle East conflict and its implications for global energy supplies and inflation. Short Term Money Market was the worst-selling sector in April, with £856.4 million redeemed.

Seath noted the shift in positioning: ‘For much of the past year, investors have been holding capital in short-term cash-like assets, understandably so, given the level of uncertainty in markets. The fact that we are now seeing that money begin to move is an encouraging sign that investors are starting to feel more confident in the investment outlook, particularly for the US following a strong month of North American equity inflows.’

Volatility Managed funds drew £607 million, the second-highest monthly total ever recorded for that sector, behind only the £887 million seen in February 2020. Mixed assets overall attracted £1.8 billion, up from £1.1 billion in March.

Bond funds returned to inflows of £466 million after the prior month’s weakness, with Mixed Bond the best-selling fixed income sector at £373.5 million, followed by Sterling Corporate Bond at £85 million and Sterling High Yield at £79 million. UK Gilts attracted £67 million, while Government Bonds saw £147 million redeemed. Responsible investment funds ran against the broader trend, recording a net outflow of £381 million, including £423 million from SDR-labelled funds; total responsible investment assets stood at £108 billion, or 6.5% of industry funds under management.

Institutional flows are the unresolved question. Net institutional sales for April were -£12.5 billion, a sharp deterioration from -£3.8 billion in the same month a year earlier. Whether retail momentum broadens into institutional positioning, or runs ahead of it, will shape the next quarter’s picture for North American equity inflows and the wider fund industry.