The Investment Management Association (IMA) has published its monthly authorised investment fund statistics for 2013:
- Net retail sales at £20.4 billion, up from £14.3 billion in 2012
- Equity funds saw highest net retail sales since 2000 at £11.4 billion
- Funds under management at a record £770 billion and up 16% from 2012
- Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares was the best-selling IMA sector
Daniel Godfrey, chief executive, IMA, said: "Retail investors were highly active in 2013, committing an average of over £1.6 billion of new money to funds every month.
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"Equity funds took by far the largest share of the net inflows from investors. After a number of years with the strongest net sales, fixed income took no new money in 2013. Both mixed asset and property funds saw stronger inflows than in 2012."
Funds under management as at the end of 2013 reached a record £770 billion, an increase of 16% from 2012.
Net retail sales were £20.4 billion in 2013, up from £14.3 billion in 2012 and the best since 2000, apart from the exceptional inflows seen in 2009 and 2010 following the financial crisis.
Net institutional sales for 2013 were £1.7 billion.
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By GlobalDataASSET CLASSES – Net retail sales
Equity was by far the best-selling asset class in 2013 with net retail sales of £11.4 billion – the highest since 2000 (£14.7 billion). This asset class has been the best-selling every month since September 2012 save one month – March 2013.
In 2013, Fixed Income funds – which were the best-selling in 2012 – saw their first ever net retail outflow of £17 million. However this is 0.01% of the funds under management (£126 billion).
Equity Fund Net Retail Sales by Region
Global equity funds remained the best-selling in 2013 for the sixth consecutive year with net retail sales of £4.0 billion.
The UK region, which was the worst-selling for equity funds in 2012 with an outflow of £944 million, was the second best-selling in 2013 with net retail sales of £2.9 billion – the highest since 2001. Just over £2.5 billion was during the second half of the year.
European equity funds were the third best-selling in 2013 with net retail sales of £2.0 billion – the highest since 2000. These funds were the second worst-selling in 2012 when they saw an outflow of £478 million.
North American equity funds were the fourth best-selling in 2013 with net retail sales of £1.1 billion – the highest since 2001.
IMA SECTOR RANKINGS
Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares was the best-selling IMA sector for 2013 with net retail sales of £3.1 billion, the highest since 2010. This is the sixth time in ten years that this sector has been the best-seller.
The worst-selling IMA sector in 2013 was £ Corporate Bond with an outflow of £1.7 billion – the lowest net retail sales ever recorded for the sector since it launched in 2008. This sector was worst-selling for seven months during 2013.
The best-selling IMA sectors for ISAs in 2013 were:
1. Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares (£431 million net)
2. UK Equity Income (£374 million net)
3. Global Equity Income (£264 million net)
The worst-selling sector for ISAs in 2013 was UK All Companies for the fourth consecutive year.
RETAIL DISTRIBUTION
Gross retail sales through UK fund platforms totalled £66.2 billion for 2013, accounting for 49% of the total market – up from 45% in 2012 and from 37% in 2010 when the IMA started to collect this data.
Gross retail sales through ‘Other Intermediaries’ (includes Wealth Managers, Stockbrokers and IFAs) totalled £56.7 billion for 2013, a market share of 42% (48% in 2010).
Direct gross retail sales totalled £11.2 billion for 2013, a continuation of the steady decline in market share – 8.3% in 2013 compared to 16% in 2010.
ISAs
The IMA’s ISA figures are based on information collected from fund companies and five fund platforms (Cofunds, Fidelity, Hargreaves Lansdown, Skandia and Transact).
ISA net sales for the current tax year (6 April to 31 Dec 2013) are £1.5 billion, compared to £1 billion for the same period in 2012.
Net retail sales for the 2012/13 tax year were £1.3 billion.
Funds under management in ISAs as at the end of 2013 were £131 billion.
FUND OF FUNDS
Net retail sales for funds of funds in 2013 were slightly higher than the previous year at £3.8 billion, £2.9 billion of which was invested into funds managed by different asset management firms and £959 million was invested into funds managed by the same firm.
Funds under management (FUM) for funds of funds as at the end of 2013 were a record £87.4 billion, accounting for 11.4% of industry FUM, up from 11.1% in 2012 and 4.9% in 2003.
TRACKER FUNDS
Net retail sales for tracker funds in 2013 totalled £3.2 billion – the highest recorded since the IMA began collecting this data. Funds under management (FUM) as at the end of last year were £74.2 billion, accounting for 9.6% of industry FUM, up from 8.9% in 2012 and 6.0% in 2003.
ETHICAL FUNDS
Net retail sales for ethical fund in 2013 totalled £207 million with funds under management as at the end of last year at £9.0 billion – accounting for 1.2% of the industry FUM.
OVERSEAS DOMICILED FUNDS
Net retail sales of overseas domiciled funds sold to UK investors totalled £2.4 billion in 2013, dropping for the first time since 2008.
Funds under management for overseas funds totalled £61.2 billion as at the end of 2013.
