British private investors lost a total of £11.5 billion at the beginning of June because they failed to take profits before share prices started to dip, according to Capita Registrars.
Capita Registrars’ Private Investor Watch shows private investors added a net £2.3 billion to their UK equity holdings over the six months to the end of May.
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The total of shareholdings by private investors came to £222.2 billion by the end of May, equivalent to 11% of UK shares by value.
However, the report also notes that private investors failed to lock-in profits during the strong run-up in prices and continued to buy at the end of March, when the suggestion that the US Federal Reserve could start to taper quantitative easing prompted a sell-off in global markets.
Between December and May, investors traded total of £45 billion in shares, the busiest trading period in two years. Investors showed a preference for cyclical shares. This preference has been seen for almost 2.5 years now, reversing a previous two-year focus on defensive names, the report says.
Justin Cooper, chief executive of Capita Registrars, said: "Private investors have enjoyed a very good 12 months in the stock market, scooping capital gains and healthy dividend payments.
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By GlobalData"They have traded shrewdly over the last few years, and have often timed the market well. But this year they failed to observe the old market cliché warning them to ‘sell in May and go away’.
"It’s cost them dearly in recent weeks. Investors have had a stark reminder that equities are not a one-way bet. With growing gloom over global growth, despite better news in the UK, and the likelihood of a winding down of monetary support, the outlook for asset prices is highly uncertain," Cooper added.
