Investors exited UK and US equities, and switched to fixed income and money market funds as the speculation over what Chancellor Rachel Reeves would do in her annual budget – given on 26 November – swirled around.

Calastone, a global funds network and technology solutions provider to the wealth and asset management sector, noted that equity fund outflow in the UK hit £3.02 billion ($4.03 billion) in November, the second largest outflow on record after October. 

Worries about what UK finance minister Rachel Reeves would do, and uncertainties ahead of the Autumn Budget, prompted the exodus, Calastone – now owned by SS&C Technologies – said yesterday. 

Reeves has extended a freeze on income tax brackets – which will increase the tax take – hiked taxes on dividends and increased the tax bite on private pensions. 

“The recent period of policy uncertainty has clearly unsettled investors and, in some cases, prompted reactive decisions they may later regret. Savers benefit most from clarity and consistency, so they can plan properly for long-term goals,” Edward Glyn, head of global markets at Calastone, said.

At a time when the UK government has, it says, sought to kickstart a flagging London stock market (the budget granted a three-year stamp duty waiver for initial public offerings), such data will be unwelcome news. Calastone said investors sold down equities for a record six consecutive months, totalling £10.39 billion. 

Funds investing in the UK and North America saw the largest outflows; there were also record inflows to safe-haven money market funds, which suggest that risk aversion is rife, despite strong equity markets, Calastone said. 

Between June and November, investors have now sold down £10.39 billion of their equity fund holdings – making this both the longest period of selling and the most severe.

Safe-haven money market funds saw inflows of £1.25 billion, beating the previous record set in October 2025 (£955 million). In addition, inflows to fixed income funds remained “elevated” at £643 million. Corporate and high-yield bond funds absorbed most of this capital; investors steered clear of sovereign bond funds, the firm said.

“A strong US earnings season was positively received by the markets, which were further buoyed by renewed bets on a near-term interest rate cut,” Glyn said. “The US and global stock indices closed November near record highs. Yet investors are clearly nervous. It’s hard to disentangle Budget jitters from nerves about equity valuations, but the inflows to safe-haven money-market funds do indicate rising risk aversion.”