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FE fundinfo's Distribution intelligence tool Finscape: UK fund flows in May 2026

Active outsells passive as the Iran war keeps 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.

ON-PLATFORM FUND ACTIVITY - MAY 2026

May 2026

Total AUM

Gross flows

Net flows

All funds (£m)

 

558,527

 

17,258

 

485

Active only (£m)

 

367,305

 

10,791

 

576

Passive only (£m)

 

191,223

 

6,466

 

(91)

Active market share (%)

 

65.8

 

62.5

 

118.8

Passive market share (%)

 

34.2

 

37.5

 

(18.8)

 

FUND MANAGERS BY GROSS SALES - MAY 2026 (£m)

FUND MANAGERS BY NET SALES - MAY 2026 (£m)

1

 

Vanguard

 

2,049

 

1

 

BlackRock

 

175

2

 

BlackRock

 

1,587

 

2

 

Amundi

 

162

3

 

LGIM

 

1,197

 

3

 

Northern Trust

 

137

4

 

HSBC

 

767

 

4

 

Orbis

 

115

5

 

Fidelity

 

739

 

5

 

BNY Mellon

 

105

6

 

RLAM

 

655

 

6

 

Invesco

 

83

7

 

Quilter

 

651

 

7

 

Scottish Widows

 

64

8

 

Dimensional

 

521

 

8

 

Waverton

 

47

9

 

Artemis

 

399

 

9

 

Schroders

 

38

10

 

Schroders

 

368

 

10

 

Polar Capital

 

34

 

ACTIVE-ONLY 
FUND MANAGERS BY GROSS SALES - MAY 2026 (£m)

ACTIVE-ONLY
FUND MANAGERS BY NET SALES - MAY 2026 (£m)

1

 

RLAM

 

640

 

1

 

Orbis

 

115

2

 

Quilter

 

555

 

2

 

HSBC

 

112

3

 

Dimensional

 

521

 

3

 

BNY Mellon

 

105

4

 

Artemis

 

399

 

4

 

Scottish Widows

 

64

5

 

Schroders

 

368

 

5

 

Waverton

 

47

6

 

HSBC

 

306

 

6

 

LGIM

 

43

7

 

BNY Mellon

 

287

 

7

 

Schroders

 

38

8

 

M&G

 

282

 

8

 

Polar Capital

 

34

9

 

LGIM

 

277

 

9

 

Atlantic House

 

28

10

 

Jupiter

 

275

10

 

AFH Wealth Mgmt

 

26

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 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.

Bella Caridade-Ferreira, Head of Insight at FE fundinfo and Finscape Lead, said: “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.”

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About Finscape

Finscape is FE fundinfo’s distribution intelligence tool. This is the first issue of the Finscape fund flows press release, a monthly review of the top ten asset managers by gross and net flows on platform. From Q1 2026, Finscape will publish Finscape Fundamentals, a new quarterly deep-dive available exclusively to asset management clients.

About FE fundinfo 

FE fundinfo is a leading financial data company connecting the investment industry in the UK, Europe and Asia Pacific through a single integrated platform: Nexus.

Nexus connects fragmented data across the investment product lifecycle, turning it into a strategic asset that drives cost efficiency, manages risk and enables growth. 

With over 30 years of expertise, FE fundinfo empowers investment professionals to streamline operations, improve client outcomes and make confident, data-driven decisions.

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