The funds hit by the coronavirus sell-off

UK, US and energy funds suffer

David Brenchley
clock • 2 min read

Almost all sectors in the Investment Association (IA) universe suffered heavy losses last week as equity markets sold off amid increasing coronavirus concerns, data from FE fundinfo shows.

As the COVID-19 virus spread around the world, investors panicked, with around $5trn of value wiped off stocks globally as the MSCI World index fell by around 6%. While the IA UK Smaller Companies sector was the biggest loser, with the average sector fund slipping by 9.1%, US stocks bore the brunt of the sell-off. Funds in the IA North American Smaller Companies and IA North America sectors declined by 8.7% and 8.6% respectively. Other UK sectors meanwhile dropped by around 8%, with the IA Global sector falling just more than 7% alongside the IA Technology & Telecommunications funds. ...

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