Ahead of vote, UK equity funds see second-largest outflows ever

London

THE scale of withdrawals from UK equity funds was the second highest on record because of uncertainty over the June 23 referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union, Bank of America Merrill Lynch said on Friday.

Worries that Britain, the world's fifth-largest economy, could decide to quit the EU in next week's vote have dominated markets this week and driven investors towards safe-haven assets such as gold and away from stocks. "June thus far has been all about the risk-off Brexit trade," BAML strategists wrote in a note to clients.