Net retail sales hit record high for second consecutive month
The Investment Association have released their monthly statistics for UK investor behaviour.
The Investment Association's monthly statistics of UK investor behaviour in April 2017 show:
Net retail sales reach a new monthly record of £4.9 billion.
Equity was the best-selling asset class for the second consecutive month with the second highest sales on record at £2 billion.
Net retail sales for ISAs reach £1.1 billion.
Chris Cummings, Chief Executive of the Investment Association, said:
"With the ISA allowance increasing to £20,000 a year, many investors decided to start the new tax year by investing their savings through authorised funds. This contributed to net retail sales reaching a record high for the second month in a row, with £4.9 billion of new retail money invested in April."
Alastair Wainwright, Fund Market Specialist, said:
"Equity funds proved most popular with retail investors for the second month in a row, attracting over £2 billion in net retail sales. April's figures were the second highest monthly inflow on record; with the highest being recorded in June 2013, when £2.5 billion poured into equity funds. Global equities drew the largest net monthly inflow with £1.2 billion and passive equity funds accounted for £493 million of net retail equity sales.
The Volatility Managed sector, which was launched in April with 87 funds, received £163 million in net retail sales, with funds under management reaching £20 billion."
Asset Classes
Equity was the best-selling asset class in April 2017, with net retail sales of £2 billion. This is the second largest monthly inflow into the asset class on record and the highest net retail sales since June 2013.
Mixed asset was the second best-selling with net retail sales of £1 billion.
Fixed income was the third best-selling asset class with net retail sales of £225 million.
Money Market funds and Property funds saw inflows of £832 million and £69 million respectively.
Net Retail Sales of Equity Funds By Region*
Global equity funds were the best-selling in April with net retail sales of £1.2 billion.
North American equity funds were the second best-selling with net retail sales of £299 million.
European equity funds were the third best-selling with net retail sales of £255 million.
Asian equity funds experienced net retail outflows of £47 million.
The Investment Association Sector Rankings
The five best-selling Investment Association sectors for April 2017 were:
1. Specialist was the best-selling sector with net retail sales of £678 million.
2. Targeted Absolute Return with net retail sales of £607 million.
3. Global with net retail sales of £376 million.
4. £ Strategic Bond with net retail sales of £335 million.
5. Short term money market with net retail sales of £312 million.
The worst-selling Investment Association sector in April 2017 was the £ Corporate Bond sector with an outflow of £277 million.
Retail Distribution
In April, gross retail sales for UK fund platforms totalled £9.5 billion, representing a market share of 49.2% (51% in April 2016).
Other Intermediaries including UK IFAs and Wealth Managers attracted gross retail sales of £4.8 billion, representing a market share of 25% (23.4% in April 2016).
Direct gross retail sales in April were £1.5 billion, representing a market share of 7.8% (6.5% in April 2016).
Fund Platform Product Sales
For the five fund platforms that provide data to The Investment Association (Cofunds, Fidelity, Hargreaves Lansdown, Old Mutual Wealth and Transact) we saw net retail sales of £1.9 billion in April.
Personal Pensions had net sales of £702 million, ISAs £1.2 billion, and Unwrapped £9 million, whilst Insurance Bonds saw net outflows of £12 million.
For the same five fund platforms, funds under management as at the end of April 2017 were £229 billion, compared with £201 billion a year earlier.
ISAs**
In April 2017, funds in ISAs provided by fund companies and the five fund platforms that feed data to The Investment Association (Cofunds, Fidelity, Hargreaves Lansdown, Old Mutual Wealth and Transact) saw net retail sales of £1.1 billion.
The three best-selling sectors for ISAs based on the five fund platforms were:
Specialist (£321 million net sales)
Global (£102 million net sales)
UK Equity Income (£98 million net sales)
Fund of Funds
Funds of funds had a net retail inflow of £963 million in April 2017.
Funds of funds that invested externally saw net retail sales of £447 million, while funds that invested internally saw net retail sales of £516 million.
Funds under management for funds of funds were £136 billion at the end of April 2017, accounting for 12.4% of industry funds under management, compared with 11.8% in April 2016.
Tracker Funds
Tracker funds saw a net retail inflow of £933 million. Tracker funds under management stood at £150 billion as at the end of April 2017. Their overall share of industry funds under management was 13.8%, compared with 11.3% in April 2016.
Ethical Funds
Net retail sales of ethical funds were £84 million in April 2017. Funds under management were £13.4 billion at the end of March, representing a 1.2% share of industry funds under management.
