LONDON (Reuters) – British investors continued piling into stocks in April, helping drive a record annual rush to take advantage of tax incentives on ‘Individual Savings Accounts’ (ISAs), according to data from fund network Calastone published on Wednesday.
UK-based investors added a net 1.93 billion pounds ($2.4 billion) to equity funds and 422 million pounds to fixed income funds during the month, with more than half of inflows coming in the first five days of April, ahead of the end of the tax-year.
Tax-advantaged ISAs often stimulate a surge in consumer investments, but this year’s influx was especially strong, Calastone said, with equity funds absorbing 5.2 billion pounds from mid-February to April 5 – the so-called “ISA season” – a nine-year record.
Equity inflows slowed a little in April on the previous three months and remained skewed to North American and overseas funds, while UK-focused equity funds saw a 35th consecutive month of net selling.
“The 2024 bull run in equity markets flies in the face of the uncomfortably bearish signals coming from the bond markets,” said Edward Glyn, head of global markets at Calastone.
“Inflows may have slowed a touch, but they are still well above normal levels as investors chase stock prices.”
UK investors had put a record 6.97 billion pounds into equity funds in the first quarter, led by demand for North American equities.
($1 = 0.7980 pounds)
(Reporting by Iain Withers; Editing by Gareth Jones)
