There were plenty of reasons to stay away from investments in April, but British investors prioritised their tax allowances over geopolitical volatility, with the turn of the tax year boosting flows on both sides of the deadline.
Gross fund flows totalled £20bn and net flows £2.3bn. Index houses led the field with BlackRock, Vanguard and LGIM taking the top three gross flow spots, while Amundi led on net flows. Active funds account for 66% of assets, but their share of net flows has fallen to 32%.
| ON-PLATFORM FUND ACTIVITY – APRIL 2026 | |||
| April 2026 | Total AUM | Gross flows | Net flows |
| All funds (£m) | 536,019 | 20,024 | 2,253 |
| Active only (£m) | 353,157 | 11,631 | 728 |
| Passive only (£m) | 182,863 | 8,394 | 1,525 |
| Active market share (%) | 65.9 | 58.1 | 32.3 |
| Passive market share (%) | 34.1 | 41.9 | 67.7 |
| FUND MANAGERS BY GROSS SALES – APRIL 2026 (£m) | FUND MANAGERS BY NET SALES – APRIL 2026 (£m) | ||||
| 1 | BlackRock | 2,147 | 1 | Amundi | 721 |
| 2 | Vanguard | 2,074 | 2 | BlackRock | 651 |
| 3 | LGIM | 1,657 | 3 | LGIM | 354 |
| 4 | Fidelity | 1,274 | 4 | Schroders | 223 |
| 5 | HSBC | 1,034 | 5 | Dimensional | 127 |
| 6 | Amundi | 901 | 6 | Orbis | 111 |
| 7 | RLAM | 743 | 7 | Scottish Widows | 103 |
| 8 | Dimensional | 557 | 8 | UBS | 87 |
| 9 | Schroders | 552 | 9 | BNY Mellon | 72 |
| 10 | Quilter | 550 | 10 | TwentyFour | 57 |
| ACTIVE-ONLY FUND MANAGERS BY GROSS SALES – APRIL 2026 (£m) | ACTIVE-ONLY FUND MANAGERS BY NET SALES – APRIL 2026 (£m) | ||||
| 1 | RLAM | 739 | 1 | Schroders | 223 |
| 2 | Fidelity | 696 | 2 | Dimensional | 127 |
| 3 | Dimensional | 557 | 3 | HSBC | 124 |
| 4 | Schroders | 552 | 4 | Orbis | 111 |
| 5 | Artemis | 441 | 5 | Scottish Widows | 103 |
| 6 | Quilter | 350 | 6 | BNY Mellon | 72 |
| 7 | LGIM | 345 | 7 | RLAM | 64 |
| 8 | M&G | 340 | 8 | TwentyFour | 57 |
| 9 | Omnis | 326 | 9 | Capital Group | 52 |
| 10 | BNY Mellon | 317 | 10 | Pimco | 33 |
Amundi was in pole position for net flows on the back of strong demand for its fixed income funds, as attractive real yields, a defensive investor mindset and the expectation (until recently, at least) of an interest rate cutting cycle drove a fixed income rotation. That same defensive mindset led to increased flows into RLAM and Fidelity’s cash and short duration funds among the active fund managers cohort.
Schroders topped the active-only net sales leaderboard. The firm, currently in the process of being acquired by Nuveen, drew flows into its actively managed portfolio services, as well as its Global Strategy, Japan Equity, Strategic Bond and Global Equity Income funds.
Bella Caridade-Ferreira, Head of Insight at FE fundinfo and Finscape Lead, said: “Stock markets have so far resisted the fall-out of the Middle East war, and with the cash ISA allowance for under-65s set to halve and pensions brought into inheritance tax from April 2027, investors had every reason to maximise their allowances while they still can. It was a good month for fund managers, but how the rest of the quarter pans out remains to be seen.”
