Passive funds take more than 70% of Q2 inflows amid market volatility

New data from Finscape shows passive funds attracted more than 70% of UK net fund inflows during Q2 2026, as investors responded to a quarter marked by geopolitical tensions, higher gilt yields and political uncertainty.

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Q2 was a noisy quarter, with the US-Israeli war on Iran, an oil spike and gilt yields at an eighteen-year high, capped by Starmer’s resignation as Labour leader in late June and Andy Burnham stepping in. All of it played out against a noisy tournament summer. Money flowed regardless – June’s net flows of £1.8bn took the quarterly total to a respectable £4.6bn.

ON-PLATFORM FUND ACTIVITY – JUNE AND Q2 2026
£m	Total AUM	JUNE 2026		Q2 2026 (APR–JUN)
	30 Jun	Gross	Net	Gross	Net
All funds	565,918	17,899	1,757	55,380	4,555
Active only	371,539	10,267	45	32,799	1,350
Passive only	194,380	7,632	1,713	22,581	3,205
Active market share (%)	65.7	57.4	2.5	59.2	29.6
Passive market share (%)	34.3	42.6	97.5	40.8	70.4

June belonged to passive almost entirely. Of the £1.8bn that came in, passive funds took £1.7bn and active managers a bare £45m. Gross activity tells the healthier story for active, at £10.3bn against passive’s £7.6bn, but withdrawals from active strategies were higher and passive flows much stickier.

Across the quarter the split was less lopsided, but the direction was the same. Passive took just over 70% of net flows, £3.2bn of the £4.6bn total, while active managed £1.4bn – the safe, cheap option was simply to track the index and let the AI rally do the work.

Gross flows

ALL FUNDS – JUNE 2026 (£m)			ACTIVE ONLY – JUNE 2026 (£m)
Rank	Asset manager	£m	Rank	Asset manager	£m
1	Vanguard	2,398	1	Quilter	957
2	BlackRock	2,083	2	RLAM	543
3	LGIM	1,445	3	Dimensional	518
4	Quilter	1,065	4	Artemis	472
5	Fidelity	1,050	5	Fidelity	384
6	HSBC	922	6	HSBC	316
7	RLAM	551	7	Schroders	293
8	Dimensional	518	8	LGIM	279
9	Artemis	472	9	M&G	248
10	Aberdeen Standard	376	10	BNY Mellon	245

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ALL FUNDS – Q2 2026 (£m)			ACTIVE ONLY – Q2 2026 (£m)
Rank	Asset manager	£m	Rank	Asset manager	£m
1	Vanguard	6,541	1	Quilter	2,351
2	BlackRock	5,819	2	RLAM	1,923
3	LGIM	4,305	3	Dimensional	1,610
4	Fidelity	3,104	4	Fidelity	1,340
5	Quilter	2,755	5	Artemis	1,312
6	HSBC	2,746	6	Schroders	1,221
7	RLAM	1,950	7	HSBC	931
8	Dimensional	1,610	8	LGIM	902
9	Amundi	1,383	9	M&G	876
10	Artemis	1,312	10	BNY Mellon	854

Vanguard, BlackRock and LGIM dominated gross activity in both June and the quarter, the familiar order of the index majors.

On the active side, several names are consistently attracting investors and worthy of mention: RLAM, Orbis and Artemis. It’s easy to consider RLAM as a short-term money market and credit duration play, but its Sustainable World and Sustainable Leaders funds are enduringly popular.

Over at Artemis, investors are drawn to income on one hand and equity on the other with its SmartGARP Global, European and Global Emerging Market funds drawing attention. Finally, Orbis’s multi-asset products continue to attract adviser support for robust and consistent performance.

Net flows

ALL FUNDS – JUNE 2026 (£m)			ACTIVE ONLY – JUNE 2026 (£m)
Rank	Asset manager	£m	Rank	Asset manager	£m
1	BlackRock	635	1	Quilter	479
2	Quilter	485	2	YOU	129
3	LGIM	381	3	HSBC	129
4	Vanguard	159	4	Dimensional	125
5	YOU	129	5	Artemis	101
6	Dimensional	125	6	Orbis	87
7	Artemis	101	7	Purisima	83
8	Fidelity	95	8	Aegon	69
9	Orbis	87	9	Scottish Widows	67
10	Purisima	83	10	Pimco	38

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ALL FUNDS – Q2 2026 (£m)			ACTIVE ONLY – Q2 2026 (£m)
Rank	Asset manager	£m	Rank	Asset manager	£m
1	BlackRock	1,461	1	Quilter	732
2	Amundi	938	2	YOU	371
3	Quilter	790	3	HSBC	366
4	LGIM	581	4	Orbis	314
5	YOU	371	5	Schroders	286
6	Orbis	314	6	Purisima	239
7	Schroders	286	7	Scottish Widows	235
8	Northern Trust	248	8	BNY Mellon	214
9	Purisima	239	9	TwentyFour	99
10	Scottish Widows	235	10	LGIM	97

On net flows, Quilter topped the active table in both June and the quarter, with HSBC and Orbis the other names to feature throughout. BlackRock led the all-funds table in both periods, with Amundi close behind over the quarter on the strength of its core bond and index ranges. The active winners shared a defensive tilt, from multi-asset and global equity income to fixed income, as investors reached for ballast while the war and the gilt sell-off played out.

Bella Caridade-Ferreira, Head of Insight at FE fundinfo and Finscape Lead said: “There was a lot of geopolitical and domestic noise in the second quarter, with the World Cup and other sporting events adding some colour and hope. Unfortunately, football didn’t come home, but with Andy Burnham taking over as UK Plc’s manager, it will be interesting to see whether investment trends remain the same or are substituted in the second half of the year.”