
Best performing UK funds under Rishi Sunak’s leadership
This Thursday 2nd February marks 100 days in office for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. After the chaotic 49 day tenure of his predecessor, Liz Truss, one could suggest that this is more of a milestone than it once was!
On entering office, Rishi Sunak made a number of pledges, including, but not limited to: restoring trust and integrity in government, cutting waiting times in the NHS, cutting illegal immigration, and pursuing “respectful, mature relationships” with Europe after years of tensions.
His immediate aim on entering Number 10, however, was to bring back order to financial markets and avoid a crisis.
There is work still be done towards many of his pledges, but what impact has his leadership had on financial markets? We take a look.
FTSE 100 makes gains
The FTSE 100 – the index of the UK’s 100 largest companies – has risen 11.4%* since Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister. It started the period at just over 7,000 (the same level it reached in 1999) and is today around 7,781** – not far from its all-time high. The FTSE 250 is up just over 12%* while the FTSE Small Cap index is up 12.6%*.
UK gilt yields fall
Having risen above 4.5% immediately after Liz Truss’s mini-budget, the UK 10-year gilt yield is lower today at 3.3%***. The fall in the cost of government borrowing has also led to mortgage rates falling. Having peaked at about 6% in the days after the mini-budget, today, 2 and 5-year fixed deals are averaging about 4%
Our currency has also risen slightly against the US dollar. £1 bought $1.15 when Rishi Sunak took office. Today it buys you $1.23**.
Inflation and the economy
Inflation has been a problem for over a year now and has proven to be far from transitory. It is hoped that it has peaked however, and since reaching 11.1% in November 2022, had dropped slightly to 10.7% in December****.
The economy, however, is on the decline. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects the UK economy will shrink by 0.6% in 2023, having forecast slight growth in October. It means the UK is the only “advanced economy” it forecast to decline this year, and the 0.6% contraction is worse even than the 0.3% fall it sees Russia’s economy experiencing^.
Best performing UK funds under Rishi Sunak’s leadership
The UK equity market has been unloved by investors for a number of years now, but the FTSE 100 did prove to be one of the most resilient markets in the world in 2022.
Since the change in Prime Minister, not only has the stock market bounced, but both UK equity income funds and bond funds have also produced positive returns.
The average IA UK All Companies fund has returned just under 13% over the period, while the average IA UK Smaller Companies fund has returned 11.7%*. Meanwhile, the average IA Sterling Corporate Bond fund has returned 7.3% and the average IA UK Gilt fund is up 1.9%*.
A number of Elite Rated funds have done even better. Here are the top five in each asset class:
Top five performing UK equity funds on FundCalibre
Rank | Elite Rated fund or trust | Total returns over the period* |
1 | Ninety One UK Special Situations | 20.6% |
2 | Schroder Income Growth | 19.9% |
3 | LF Montanaro UK Income | 18.8% |
4 | Jupiter UK Alpha | 18.7% |
5 | ES R&M UK Recovery | 17.9% |
Top five performing sterling corporate bond funds on FundCalibre
Rank | Elite Rated fund or trust | Total returns over the period* |
1 | Man GLG Sterling Corporate Bond | 14.3% |
2 | BlackRock Corporate Bond | 10.9% |
3 | M&G Strategic Corporate Bond | 9.6% |
4 | Royal London Corporate Bond | 8.7% |
5 | M&G Corporate Bond | 8.4% |
*Source: FE fundinfo, total returns in sterling, 25 October 2022 to 1 February 2023.
**Source: Google finance, 1 February 2023
***Source: ft.com, 1 February 2023
****Source: rateinflation.com
^Source: cnbc.com, 31 January 2023
Photo by Marcel Eberle on Unsplash