Groups cut back equities

The equity portion of with-profits funds has dropped from 70%-80% to around 50% as groups steadily decrease equity exposure. Research carried out by Investment Week found the average equity exposure in the top 20 with-profits funds in the UK stood at just under 54% of total holdings. Unsurprisingly, troubled Equitable Life has the lowest equity holding of the surveyed funds, with just 15% of its £17.6bn portfolio invested in equities at the start of July. An Equitable Life spokesman confirmed the equity holding had dropped below 15% since July but would not give further details. Eq...