Equity was the best-selling asset class for the fifteenth consecutive month with net retail sales of £1.2 billion, according to the Investment Management Association’ (IMA) monthly statistics for authorised investment funds for June 2014.
- UK Equity Income was the best-selling sector with net retail sales of £1.4 billion
- Fund net retail sales were £2.1 billion
- Funds under management were £798 billion
Daniel Godfrey, IMA Chief Executive, said:
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"June was another strong month for retail fund sales with equity funds again doing well. Inflows to the UK Equity Income sector were dominant with £1.4bn of the £2.1bn total net retail sales in June.
"Property funds also continued to be popular, with property the second best-selling asset class in June. Mixed asset funds were not far behind."
ASSET CLASSES
Equity was the best-selling asset class by far in June with net retail sales of £1.2 billion. This was the fifteenth consecutive month that equity was the best-selling asset class.
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By GlobalDataProperty was the second best-selling asset class with net retail sales of £316 million.
Mixed Asset was the third best-selling asset class with net retail sales of £307 million.
NET RETAIL SALES OF EQUITY FUNDS BY REGION
UK was by far the best-selling region for equity funds with net retail sales of £870 million – the highest since March 1998.
Global equity funds were the second best-selling with net retail sales of £263 million, slightly below the average of the previous 12 months.
Japan, Europe and Asia followed with net retail of £86 million, £74 million and £72 million respectively.
North American equity funds saw outflows of £140 million.
IMA SECTOR RANKINGS
The top five best-selling IMA sectors for June 2014 were:
- UK Equity Income with net retail sales of £1.4 billion, the highest ever recorded for the sector.
- Property with net retail sales of £316 million.
- Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares with net retail sales of £222 million.
- £ Strategic Bond with net retail sales of £171 million.
- Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares with net retail sales of £154 million.
The worst-selling IMA sector for June 2014 was UK All Companies with a net retail outflow of £421 million. The last time this sector was the worst-selling was in May 2013.
RETAIL DISTRIBUTION
In June 2014, UK fund platforms continued to see the highest gross retail sales at £7.1 billion, representing a 57% market share (49% in June 2013).
Gross retail sales for Other Intermediaries (includes Wealth Managers, Stockbrokers and IFAs) totalled £4.5 billion in June 2014, a market share of 36% (43% in June 2013).
Direct gross retail sales in June 2014 were £871 million, representing a market share of 7.0% (7.8% in June 2013).
FUND PLATFORM PRODUCT SALES
For the five fund platforms that provide data to the IMA (Cofunds, Fidelity, Hargreaves Lansdown, Skandia and Transact) net sales for June 2014 were £616 million.
Unwrapped products had the highest net sales at £336 million, followed by Personal Pensions (£168 million), ISAs (£101 million) and Insurance Bonds (£11 million).
For the same five fund platforms, funds under management as at the end of June 2014 were £171 billion, compared with £146 billion a year earlier.
ISAs
In June 2014, there was an outflow of £74 million in net retail sales of ISAs through fund companies and the five fund platforms that provide data to the IMA (Cofunds, Fidelity, Hargreaves Lansdown, Skandia and Transact).
The top three best-selling sectors for ISAs based on the five fund platforms were:
- UK Equity Income (£117 million net sales)
- Property (£33 million net sales)
- Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares (£21 million net sales)
FUND OF FUNDS
Net retail sales for funds of funds in June 2014 were £215 million. Net retail sales of funds of funds invested with different asset management firms were £158 million, compared to £57 million for funds of funds invested into the same firm’s funds.
Funds under management for funds of funds were at £91 billion as at the end of June 2014, accounting for 11.5% of industry funds under management, compared with 11.2% in June 2013.
TRACKER FUNDS
Tracker funds saw net retail sales of £225 million in June 2014, below the average of recent months.
Funds under management for tracker funds were £81 billion as at the end of June 2014. Their overall share of industry funds under management was 10.1%, compared with 9.3% in June 2013.
ETHICAL FUNDS
Net retail sales of ethical funds were £32 million in June 2014.
Funds under management for ethical funds were £9.4 billion at the end of June 2014. Their share of industry funds under management was 1.2%.
OVERSEAS DOMICILED FUNDS
In June 2014, net retail sales of overseas domiciled funds were £64 million, below the average of recent months.
