Diversified growth funds, which have been hoovering up assets largely on the premise that they provide equity-like returns but with reduced volatility, have seen performance slump compared with equities over the past year. But money continues to pour in.

The funds have been a significant growth story in the UK market over the past six years, but the three main types of DGFs have, on average, all underperformed the MSCI World index in the 12 months to March 31, 2016.