Fund market ends year on a high, with December inflows of £3.6 billion
Thursday 6 February 2020
UK savers invested £3.6 billion in retail funds in December 2019 according to latest figures published today by the Investment Association (IA).
- Net retail sales reached £3.6 billion in December – more than double the November figure and the biggest monthly inflow since January 2018.
- UK All Companies was the best selling IA sector in December with £772 million in net retail sales – the first time it’s reached the top since March 2017, with its best net retail sales since June 2013.
- After outflows from active funds each month since June, December saw a return to positive sales of £1.7 billion in December, amounting to nearly half of all net retail inflows. This was only the second month of inflows to active funds in 2019.
Chris Cummings, Chief Executive of the Investment Association, said:
“Funds markets were buoyed in December by the ‘Boris bounce’ with £3.6 billion invested into funds. Galvanised by the general election result, savers poured £1.3 billion into UK equity funds, reaching inflows last seen in 2013. This new-found confidence was felt across UK plc, with inflows into funds investing in large to small cap UK companies.”
FUNDS UNDER MANAGEMENT AND NET SALES
BEST SELLING INVESTMENT ASSOCIATION SECTORS
The five best-selling Investment Association sectors for December 2019 were:
- UK All Companies was first with net retail sales of £773 million.
- £ Strategic Bond was second with net retail sales of £509 million.
- Volatility Managed followed with net retail sales of £410 million.
- Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares was fourth with net retail sales of £385 million.
- North America was fifth with net retail sales of £331 million.
The worst-selling Investment Association sector in December 2019 was Targeted Absolute Return with an outflow of £410 million.
NET RETAIL SALES BY ASSET CLASS
Equity was the best-selling asset class in December 2019 with £1.8 billion in net retail sales.
Fixed Income was the second best-selling asset class with £1.1 billion of inflows.
Mixed Asset was the third best-selling asset class with £782 million in net retail sales.
Other (which includes the Targeted Absolute Return, Volatility Managed, and Unclassified sectors) was next with £130 million in net retail sales.
All other asset classes experienced outflows, with Money Marketing experiencing outflows of £108 million and Property experiencing net retail outflows of £135 million.
NET RETAIL SALES OF EQUITY FUNDS BY REGION*
UK was the best selling equity fund region in December 2019, with net retail sales of £1.3 billion.
North America funds were the second best selling with net retail sales of £369 million.
Asia funds saw net retail sales of £46 million in December.
Europe funds experienced net retail sales of £23 million, while Japan funds saw net retail sales of £7 million.
Global funds were the only equity region to experience net retail outflows in December, of £197 million.
TRACKER FUNDS
Tracker funds saw a net retail inflow of £2.0 billion in December 2019. Tracker funds under management stood at £230 billion as of the end of December. Their overall share of industry funds under management was 18%.
RESPONSIBLE INVESTMENT FUNDS
Responsible Investment funds saw a net retail inflow of £452 million in December 2019. Responsible Investment funds under management stood at £27 billion as of the end of November. Their overall share of industry funds under management was 2%.
GROSS RETAIL SALES BY DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL
In December, gross retail sales for UK fund platforms totalled £11 billion, representing a market share of 50%.
Gross retail sales through Other UK Intermediaries including IFAs were £6 billion, representing a market share of 25%.
Direct gross retail sales in December were £1.5 billion, representing a market share of 7%.
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 to 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 asset management, supporting British savers, investors and businesses. Our 250 members manage £7.7 trillion of assets and the asset 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.
