In the calm before Coronavirus, savers invest £4.2bn
Thursday 5 March 2020
UK savers invested £4.2 billion in retail funds in January 2020 according to latest figures published today by the Investment Association (IA).
- Net retail sales reached £4.2 billion in January – up 16% on December and the biggest monthly inflow since January 2018.
- Fixed income funds were the best-selling asset class in January with £1.7 billion in net retail sales – more than three times their net retail sales for January 2019.
- Responsible investment funds saw record net retail sales of £526 million in January.
- Active and tracker funds enjoyed similar net retail sales in January, with £2.1 billion of inflows into each.
Chris Cummings, Chief Executive of the Investment Association, said:
“The fund market got off to a strong start in the New Year, with £4.2 billion invested into funds in January. However since then, coronavirus has affected economies around the world and unsurprisingly, markets have reacted negatively to this uncertainty. This is clearly an increasingly unsettling time for everyone, including investors. And while it’s important to take a long-term view, with markets tending to overcome periods of volatility, we will have to wait to see how recent steep market falls have affected investor behaviour in February.”
FUNDS UNDER MANAGEMENT AND NET SALES
| Funds Under Management | Net Retail Sales | Net Institutional Sales | |
| January 2020 | £1.3 trillion | £4.2 billion | £2.8 billion |
| January 2019 | £1.2 trillion | -£141 million | -£466 million |
BEST SELLING INVESTMENT ASSOCIATION SECTORS
The five best-selling Investment Association sectors for January 2020 were:
- Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares was first with net retail sales of £370 million.
- Global Bonds was second with net retail sales of £358 million.
- £ Corporate Bond followed with net retail sales of £309 million.
- UK All Companies was fourth with net retail sales of £294 million.
- Global Emerging Markets Bonds – Local Currency was fifth with net retail sales of £266 million.
The worst-selling Investment Association sector in January 2020 was UK Index Linked Gilts with an outflow of £161 million.
NET RETAIL SALES BY ASSET CLASS
Fixed Income was the best-selling asset class in January 2020 with £1.7 billion in net retail sales.
Equity was the second best-selling asset class with £881 million of inflows.
Mixed Asset was the third best-selling asset class with £673 million in net retail sales.
Money Market was next with £626 million in net retail sales.
Other (which includes the Targeted Absolute Return, Volatility Managed, and Unclassified sectors) experienced net retail sales of £224 million, while Property experienced net retail sales of £60 million.
NET RETAIL SALES OF EQUITY FUNDS BY REGION*
UK was the best selling equity fund region in January 2020, with net retail sales of £355 million.
North America funds were the second best selling with net retail sales of £272 million.
Global funds saw net retail sales of £105 million in January.
Japan funds experienced net retail sales of £63 million, while Asia funds saw net retail sales of £58 million.
Europe funds were the only equity region to experience net retail outflows in January, of £86 million.
TRACKER FUNDS
Tracker funds saw a net retail inflow of £2.1 billion in January 2020. Tracker funds under management stood at £232 billion as of the end of January. Their overall share of industry funds under management was 17.5%.
RESPONSIBLE INVESTMENT FUNDS
Responsible investment funds saw a net retail inflow of £526 million in January 2020. Responsible investment funds under management stood at £28 billion as of the end of January. Their overall share of industry funds under management was 2.1%.
GROSS RETAIL SALES BY DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL
In January, gross retail sales for UK fund platforms totalled £11 billion, representing a market share of 46%.
Gross retail sales through Other UK Intermediaries including IFAs were £6 billion, representing a market share of 27%.
Direct gross retail sales in January were £1.7 billion, representing a market share of 7%.
ENDS
For further information, please contact:
Katie Martin, Head of Communications: [email protected]
T: +44 (0)20 7269 4655
Helen Ayres, Communications Manager: [email protected]
T: +44 (0)20 7269 4620
David Parton, Communications Executive: [email protected]
T: +44 (0)20 7269 4625
IA press office: [email protected]
T: 020 7269 4696
Notes for Editors
To see a breakdown of the data referenced in this press release, please see all of the tables here.
The Investment Association's figures for fund sales cover retail and institutional sales in authorised unit trusts and open ended investment companies (OEICs) provided by our membership to UK investors. The figures do not include investment trusts and ETFs.
Each month small revisions to figures have been made since the previous press release. This reflects additional information received by The Investment Association.
Net retail sales comprise total retail sales minus repurchases (including switches between funds), thus the figures can result in a negative figure or outflow.
* Regional breakdown for equity funds
The following Investment Association sectors have been grouped together to compile the figures for regional equity sales:
Direct Channels
Direct includes sales forces and tied agents, private clients and other direct to investor sales without intermediation.
** The Investment Association’s ISA figures are based on information collected from fund companies and five fund platforms (AEGON, Fidelity, Hargreaves Lansdown, Old Mutual Wealth and Transact) where they are the ISA provider. Fund business through other ISA providers such as wealth managers is not included. The Investment Association’s figures cover about three-quarters of the whole of the market for funds held in ISAs.
About the Investment Association (IA):
- The IA champions UK investment management, supporting British savers, investors and businesses. Our 250 members manage £7.7 trillion of assets and the investment management industry supports 115,000 jobs across the UK.
- Our mission is to make investment better. Better for clients, so they achieve their financial goals. Better for companies, so they get the capital they need to grow. And better for the economy, so everyone prospers.
- Our purpose is to ensure investment managers are in the best possible position to:
- Build people’s resilience to financial adversity
- Help people achieve their financial aspirations
- Enable people to maintain a decent standard of living as they grow older
- Contribute to economic growth through the efficient allocation of capital.
- The money our members manage is in a wide variety of investment vehicles including authorised investment funds, pension funds and stocks and shares ISAs.
- The UK is the second largest investment management centre in the world, after the US and manages 37% of all assets managed in Europe.
