Finscape, FE fundinfo’s distribution intelligence tool, has shared data on UK on-platform fund flows for May 2026, as active outsells passive with the Iran war keeping markets on edge.
The US-Israeli war on Iran set the mood for May but markets barely blinked. Equities held near record highs while the bond market did the fretting, with yields spiking mid-month before oil and gilts settled again.
For asset managers, the month mattered for a different reason. With the UK tax-year rush behind them and the summer lull beckoning, flows were expected to soften. They didn’t – net flows came in at £485m.
April belonged to passive, sweeping up two thirds of net flows, but May turned the tables. Active managers took £576m of net flows while passive funds slipped into an outflow of £91m. After the run passive has enjoyed, it’s one the active houses will happily bank.
For all that active that turned the tables, the names at the top of the net table were the usual index giants. BlackRock and Amundi led, a reminder that the trackers keep gathering assets whatever the weather. The interest lies just below them, in what the active winners were selling.
Orbis, HSBC and BNY Mellon took the honours, and the thread running through them was income and defensiveness: multi-asset portfolios, equity income and infrastructure income. With a war on and bond yields lurching about, investors wanted ballast.
“Equities have shrugged off the war so far, but the gap between buoyant stock markets and jittery bond markets is one to watch. If yields stay high and the Strait of Hormuz stays shut, the resilience that carried the first half of the year will be tested.
“For now, investors are ignoring the noise and backing active managers to earn their keep. Whether that holds through the summer rests less on funds than on the oil price.”
Bella Caridade-Ferreira, Head of Insight at FE fundinfo and Finscape Lead
