Funds with a focus on the energy sector were the best performers in the Investment Association fund universe in April, according to data from FE Analytics.
The best performing fund was the £343m Schroders ISF Global Energy fund, which returned 15.4 per cent during the month.
Next best was the £1.3bn BlackRock GF World Energy fund, which returned 14.4 per cent.
This fund has lost 1 per cent over the past year.
The £40.7m Artemis Global Energy fund also performed strongly in April, returning 13.92 per cent.
The best performing fund not solely focused on energy investments was the £3.8m VT Cape Wrath Focus fund, which has four energy related holdings among its top 10 investments.
Given the political turmoil, it is perhaps not surprising that the worst performing fund during the month was the Baring Russia fund, which lost 8.5 per cent.
The best performing sector during the month was IA UK Equity Income.
The sector returned 6.25 per cent. The IA UK All Companies sector returned 6.21 per cent.
The worst performing sectors were the IA UK Index Linked Gilt, which lost 2.83 per cent, and the IA UK Gilts sector which lost 1.25 per cent.
Ben Yearsley, a director at Shore Financial Planning, said the strong performance of UK equities is the result of merger and acquisition activity in a number of companies that has boosted the returns from UK shares.
Top ten IA Sectors
IA Sector | PercentageReturn |
UK Equity Income | 6.25 |
UK All Companies | 6.21 |
UK Equity & Bond Income | 4.94 |
UK Smaller Companies | 4.84 |
North America | 4.24 |
Europe Including UK | 4.03 |
Global | 4.00 |
North American Smaller Companies | 3.97 |
Europe Excluding UK | 3.85 |
Global Equity Income | 3.78 |
Source: FE Trustnet, 31st March 2018 to 30th April 2018. Total Return in Pounds Sterling.
Adrian Lowcock, investment director at Architas, said: "Volatility came back with a bang in January and in February investors had to deal with the threat of trade wars and now sanctions against Russia.
"However, in April there was largely a period of calm. UK markets were boosted as more investors decided they were beginning to believe the country was at an attractive discount to international markets with global investor sentiment at an all-time low on the country.
"In addition weak economic data and conflicting views from Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England, have led to market expectations for interest rates to rise later and more slowly than initially expected."
david.thorpe@ft.com
