A global equity income fund presently positioned for a recession to be avoided was among the most popular funds among Hargreaves Lansdown clients in April.
The £4.3bn fund, which is run by Jacob de Tusch-Lec, has struggled in performance terms over the past year, losing 2 per cent while the average fund in the IA Global Equity Income sector gained 6 per cent in that time.
Part of the reason for the underperformance of the fund is its investments in banks, though these have been reduced somewhat in recent months.
Global equity funds are generally popular with Hargreaves Lansdown clients at present, with the £1.5bn Rathbones Global Opportunities fund and the £5.2bn Neptune Global Income fund joining the perennial best sellers Fundsmith Equity, which is £17bn in size, and the £7.4bn Lindsell Train Global Equity fund.
The preference among Hargreaves Lansdown customers for global equity funds is mirrored by data from the Investment Association (IA) which showed the IA Global sector to be the only one to have attracted net inflows from retail investors in May.
The relatively strong performance of emerging markets in 2019 is reflected in the popularity of the JP Morgan Emerging Markets fund and the First State Asia Focus fund among Hargreaves Lansdown clients.
The decision of the US Federal Reserve to pause interest rate rise caused the yield on government bonds to drop dramatically, with Hargreaves Lansdown clients responding by investing in the Royal London High Yield Bond fund.
The only UK equity fund to make the top 10 most bought was Lindsell Train UK equity, run, as is the Lindsell Train Global equity fund, by Nick Train and Mike Lindsell.
The most popular funds, in alphabetical order are:
Artemis Income |
Baillie Gifford American |
First State Asia Focus |
Fundsmith Equity |
JPMorgan Emerging Markets |
LF Lindsell Train UK Equity |
Lindsell Train Global Equity |
Newton Global Income |
Rathbone Global Opportunities |
Royal London Sterling Extra Yield Bond |
