I first wrote about the "sell in may" phenomenon in 2016 in my article "Should you sell in May and go away". The adage states that you "Sell in May and go away and don't come back till St. Leger Day", in other words, sell out of the stock market in May and stay in cash over the summer, before going back in at the start of September when the St Leger Stakes horse race is run. The theory is that by doing so you avoid the more volatile summer months which historically have also tended to underperform the rest of the year.
In my article, I referenced a number of pieces of research that suggested that following the Sell in May adage over the long-term could actually be detrimental to your investment returns. As with many seasonal trends their reliability can ebb and flow.
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