According to the third edition of asset manager Janus Henderson’s Portfolio Portrait report, UK portfolios remain equity-led, although allocations to fixed income have increased over the past year.

UK-based investors have increased allocations to fixed income over the past year, in an effort to reduce risk amidst a highly uncertain macroeconomic and geopolitical environment, according to the latest edition of London-headquartered Janus Henderson's Portfolio Portrait report.

It analysed trends across more than 30,000 model portfolios held by more than 6,700 global clients between 1 March 2025 and 28 February 2026. The report found that whilst average portfolios remained equity-led, with equity allocations stable at 57.2 per cent, fixed income exposure rose.

Fixed income exposure increased to 34.8 per cent, from 33.1 per cent funded by reductions in multi-asset and alternatives allocations; investors reduced duration from 5.1 years to 4.3 years, as they reassessed the outlook for further rate cuts.

Government bond exposure increased to 42.6 per cent, compared with 39.5 per cent in the previous period, though it remained below the 61.6 per cent weighting of the Bloomberg Global Aggregate Bond benchmark. Corporate bond exposure was broadly stable at 30.8 per cent, compared with 31.2 per cent previously and 24.4 per cent in the benchmark. Credit quality exposure was weighted towards investment grade, with an average allocation of 88 per cent investment grade and 12 per cent sub-investment grade.

The Portfolio Portrait report is designed to help financial professionals cut through market complexity and identify portfolio positioning opportunities. It analyses aggregated data from 1517 UK model portfolios over the six-month period from 1 September 2025 to 28 February 2026, compared with the prior period from 1 March 2025 to 31 August 2025, using insights from the Janus Henderson Edge™ analytics platform.

“UK portfolios remain equity-led, but investors are clearly taking a more selective approach. Against a highly uncertain macroeconomic and geopolitical backdrop, we have seen increased demand for fixed income assets, with investors reducing duration while maintaining a focus on quality and liquidity,” Matt Bullock, head of portfolio construction and strategy, EMEA & APAC, at Janus Henderson, said.

Equities
UK-based investors kept their exposure to equities broadly stable across the market-cap spectrum, with allocations to small caps and mid caps remaining at 9 per cent and 22 per cent respectively over the course of the year, the report shows. Large cap allocations rose slightly by 1 per cent to 69 per cent in the current period, indicating limited change in market-cap positioning.

Regional equity positioning continued to show a clear home bias, with UK and European exposure remaining above the MSCI ACWI benchmark. Whilst US large cap equities remained overweight, US equities overall remained underweight. The average portfolio increased exposure to the US by 1 per cent (42 per cent to 43 per cent) yet remained firmly below the MSCI ACWI benchmark of 62 per cent.

Comparatively, exposure to European and UK equities was 32 per cent in the current period, a 2 per cent reduction from the previous period but significantly above the benchmark level of 14 per cent. Exposure to emerging markets and the rest of the developed world increased by 1 per cent in the current period to 25 per cent, broadly in line with the benchmark at 24 per cent, the report reveals.

At a sector level, technology continued to represent the largest equity allocation in portfolios but remained the most underweight relative to the MSCI ACWI benchmark (by 6.90 per cent) in the current period. Portfolios were also underweight in communication services (by 1.95 per cent) and energy (by 1.23 per cent). The largest overweight positions were in industrials (3.65 per cent), real estate (2.42 per cent) and utilities (1.34 per cent).

Cash and money market exposure declined slightly to 11.3 per cent, from 12.1 per cent in the previous period, but remained well above the benchmark (2.3 per cent), reflecting a defensive approach to portfolio construction.