UK fund flows stayed positive in August 2026: retail investors put a net £894m into funds, the tenth positive month in a row, according to the Investment Association (IA). That takes net retail sales for 2026 to £13.8bn. The money went to mixed asset, bond and global equity funds; UK and North American equity funds lost money, and money market funds saw the biggest outflows.
The IA published the figures on 1 October 2026. A year earlier, in August 2025, investors withdrew £1.84bn. Funds under management stood at £1.75trn at the end of August 2026, against £1.57trn a year before.
UK fund flows by asset class, August 2026
| Asset class | Net retail sales |
|---|---|
| Mixed asset | +£749m |
| Other | +£691m |
| Fixed income | +£656m |
| Property | +£4m |
| Equities | -£478m |
| Money market | -£728m |
| Total | +£894m |
Source: Investment Association, 1 October 2026.
Mixed asset funds were the best-selling asset class and, the IA says, the only one with positive sales in every month of 2026, as investors sought a ready-made mix of shares and bonds. Money market funds lost £728m, with Short Term Money Market the worst-selling sector at -£879.6m. The IA describes this as a return to the usual pattern of inflows and outflows after a long positive run in 2025.
UK equities versus the world
| Equity region | Net retail sales, August 2026 |
|---|---|
| Global | +£568m |
| Europe | +£40m |
| Japan | +£25m |
| Asia | -£114m |
| North America | -£363m |
| UK | -£615m |
The UK was again the weakest equity region. Investors withdrew £615m from UK equity funds in August, though that was far less than the £1.6bn taken out in July, which the IA linked to “July’s period of political transition”. Global funds took £568m. The IA says investors favoured “global diversification” over UK or US equities, and the Global and Global Emerging Markets sectors each took in just over £250m.
Equity funds overall lost £478m, an improvement on July’s £2.0bn outflow. The split between passive and active was stark: tracker funds took in £1.6bn, including £1.1bn into equity index trackers, while active funds lost £707m. Trackers held £455bn at the end of August, 26.0% of industry funds under management. For how trackers work, see our guide to index funds in the UK and to global tracker funds.
Bonds: active strategic funds in, gilts out
Fixed income funds took £656m in August and £6.1bn so far this year. The best-selling sector was £ Strategic Bond at £367.1m, a sector the IA says is mostly made up of active funds that can adjust as the interest rate outlook changes. Mixed Bond took £208.9m. Pure gilt funds went the other way: the UK Gilts sector saw £183m of outflows, and inflows to Government Bond funds narrowed to £62m from £333m in July and £674m in June. The IA linked the slowdown to rising US Treasury and gilt yields. Our report on gilt yields at multi-decade highs explains what that means for bond prices.
Best and worst sectors
| IA sector | Net retail sales, August 2026 |
|---|---|
| £ Strategic Bond | +£367.1m |
| Volatility Managed | +£338.1m |
| Global | +£256.3m |
| Global Emerging Markets | +£253.3m |
| Mixed Bond | +£208.9m |
| Short Term Money Market (worst) | -£879.6m |
The Budget in the background
The IA used the release to warn about policy uncertainty before the Budget on 28 October 2026. It pointed out that in October 2025, the last full month before the previous Budget, retail investors withdrew £4.5bn, including £1.4bn from UK equities, amid concern about reported tax changes. Our guide to what is already decided sets out the changes that are already law. Responsible investment funds, for the record, lost £431m in August.
Fund flows show what investors bought and sold, not how those funds performed. Past performance is not a guide to future returns.
