Investors’ confidence in the UK has fallen by 28 per cent over April as geopolitical events such as the Trump tariffs caused disruption.
Hargreaves Lansdown’s investor confidence index found there had been a fall in investor confidence across the board, with a 35 per cent drop in confidence in North American markets.
A similar fall was present among Hargreaves Lansdown clients as their confidence in UK economic growth dropped by 43 per cent during the same period.
Hargreaves Lansdown head of fund research, Victoria Hasler, said this dip was due to the recent volatility in both markets and politics.
“The first week of April saw President Trump introduce tariffs across virtually all its trading partners and pretty much all goods,” she explained.
“The extent and level of tariffs imposed sent shockwaves through markets and our survey shows that investors lost confidence in droves.”
Hasler also revealed the dip in investor confidence in the UK meant that the region’s overall confidence level was the lowest of any area in the survey.
“Confidence in UK growth fell more dramatically still, down 43 per cent since the previous month,” she added.
Hasler additionally provided insight into the investments that performed well amid the turbulence.
Passive investment funds are still the most popular choice, with only one actively managed fund, Artemis Income, making it into the top 10 most bought funds.
Top funds, HL clients, April so far (net buys)
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UBS S&P 500 Index
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Legal & General US Index
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Fidelity Index World
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Legal & General International Index Trust
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Legal & General Global Technology Index Trust
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Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap Index
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HSBC FTSE All World Index
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Legal & General UK 100 Index Trust
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Legal & General European Index
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Artemis Global Income
“The list is still dominated by US and global funds, but a European tracker has crept in at number nine and a UK tracker at number eight,” she said.
“In terms of investment trusts, it seems that investors are still keen to take advantage of discounts to hunt out some bargains.
“The mix is fairly eclectic but features a couple of infrastructure funds as well as some of the real stalwarts of the investment trust world such as Scottish Mortgage and City of London Investment Trust.
“In volatile times, it would seem that investors prefer to stick to what they know.”
tom.dunstan@ft.com
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