More than half of the advisers who responded to our latest Despatches poll said they intended to increase their allocation to UK equities this year.
The poll, sponsored by Artemis, shows that 58 per cent will either definitely or probably increase their exposure to the home market this year.
The poll found that 19 per cent of respondents are definitely increasing their UK equity exposure this year, while 38 per cent "probably" will.
UK equities have been sharply out of favour with investors over the past decade, due to a combination of political uncertainty and clouds over many of the sectors that dominate the index, such as mining, oil and gas and banks, and their viability in a changing world.
The start of 2022 was supposed to herald a new era, with the types of stocks that dominate the UK market rushing back into favour, and the technology and other stocks that have been in favour in the past, but are a tiny part of the UK index, falling.
And that is how the year began, with UK equities performing strongly, but the recent decline in market sentiment has seen the UK market underperform relative to the US.
david.thorpe@ft.com
