<!–
<!–
<!– <!–
<!–
<!–
<!–
Investment: Britons poured an unprecedented £7 billion into equity funds in the first quarter of the year
Savers continue to abandon UK shares despite pouring record amounts into share funds, it was revealed yesterday.
Industry figures show that Britons poured an unprecedented £7 billion into such investments in the first quarter of the year as they looked to cash in on rising stock markets.
A record £5.7 billion was pumped into North American equity funds in the past three months, according to figures from global fund network Calastone.
But at the same time, British investors withdrew £2.1 billion from domestic investments.
Contrasting the relative attractiveness of US and UK funds, Edward Glyn, head of global markets at Calastone, said: ‘The US earnings recession is over.
Profits are on the rise again. British shares are certainly cheap. But investors are concerned about where the growth will come from.”
The figures come from research in the City and among investors about the health of London’s stock market and the low values placed on British companies.
That has left London-listed companies vulnerable to foreign bidders in what Peel Hunt described this week as a “feeding frenzy”.
Peel Hunt’s Charles Hall warned that if the ‘relentless’ attack continues, the FTSE Small Cap Index could cease to exist by 2028 as there will no longer be any companies outside the top 350 that make up the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 .