Despite recent market shocks in which billions of pounds have been wiped off the value of the FTSE, investors are flocking to buy UK tracker funds that are designed to track indices. Some £50 billion of the £165 billion invested in mainstream UK equity funds is held in these automated funds, also known as “passives”. Four UK tracker funds made August’s top ten selling funds, compiled by The Share Centre, despite the tremors through global markets when the Chinese slowdown triggered a huge sell-off. HSBC FTSE 250 Index, Legal &amp; General UK Index, Vanguard FTSE All Share Index and Blackrock UK Equity Tracker were top picks among investors. Sheridan Admans, investment research manager at The Share Centre, says: “Having four tracker funds is unprecedented in
30% of the £165bn invested in mainstream UK equity funds is now held in passive index trackers, four of which made The Share Centre's August list of top ten selling funds. Sheridan Admans, investment research manager at The Share Centre, which compiled the list, said having four tracker funds in making the top ten best seller list was unprecedented. Brian Dennehy, of Fundexpert.co.uk told The Times that investing in UK tracker funds is a waste of time, stating that the top ten UK actively managed funds nearly have outperformed the top performing tracker, Santander Stockmarket 100 Tracker, by nearly 800% since 1999.