The largest global funds network revealed that equity funds suffered a net outflow of £315m during August, marking the 14th month of outflows in the last 15 and the fourth consecutive month of net selling.

Investors have now sold down £15.16bn worth of equity funds since June 2025, despite August’s outflows being smaller than the £1.61bn withdrawn in July. Selling was concentrated in funds focused on UK (-£601m) and European equities (-£145m), while specialist sector funds also suffered withdrawals of -£52m.

Outflows of £3m were reported for North American funds. It was the first withdrawal for this sector since November 2025 but was very small — just 0.06% of the combined £4.9bn of buy and sell orders.

Bond funds drew in £407m of new capital in August, broadly in line with the average over the last 12 months, and marked the fourth consecutive month of inflows. There was increased demand for safe-haven money market funds, with investors adding £364m in August, their largest inflow since November and double the 12-month average.

Investors opted for assets offering liquidity and income and reduced their downside risk with bond and money market funds attracting £771m of new capital. Money market funds have absorbed £8.7bn of equity market outflows since it began in June 2025.

Edward Glyn, head of global markets at Calastone, said: “Such prolonged outflows from equity funds are incredibly rare. There is a huge built-in bias towards fund inflows as UK households add to their savings over time – and equity funds have traditionally been big beneficiaries.

“Investors aren’t panicking, but they are stubbornly refusing to chase equity markets higher. August’s outflow was much smaller than July’s, but the pattern is now well entrenched. With markets near record highs, investors may have reservations about where equities go from here.

“Continuous Budget speculation is adding to that caution. If investors believe capital gains and pension tax breaks are in the firing line, some of them have a reason to act now rather than risk delay.

“Cash is also doing more of the talking. Money market funds have had their strongest month since November, while bond inflows continue to attract healthy sums. When investors can earn a decent return without taking equity risk, there is much less pressure to chase the market. They can afford to sit on the sidelines and wait for a better reason to buy.”