07
Jul
2022

Savers diversify as market uncertainty continues

UK savers took £822 million out of funds in May 2022, in the fourth month of net retail outflows so far this year, according to data published today by the Investment Association (IA).

Other key findings for May 2022 include:

  • Mixed Asset funds saw the biggest net retail inflows in May, with inflows of £653 million, while equity and fixed income funds both saw outflows of £1.2 billion and £620 million respectively.
  • Short Term Money Market was the bestselling IA sector in May with net retail inflows of £524 million. Investors are likely to be seeking to re-allocate this capital either tactically or once market conditions settle. North America was the second highest selling sector at £444 million, bucking the trend to equity outflows.
  • Tracker funds saw net retail sales of £877 million in May, while active funds saw outflows of £1.7 billion.
  • Responsible investment funds saw net retail inflows of £1.2 billion in May, consistent with the £1.2 billion recorded in April.

Chris Cummings, Chief Executive of the Investment Association said:

“Growing economic uncertainty and market volatility in May saw multi-asset funds rise in popularity as investors sought to diversify their portfolios, while responsible investment fund flows remained resilient. At the same time, equity funds saw outflows increase threefold in May.

“With the major central banks maintaining a clear trajectory towards curbing inflation through rate rises, the recent outflows from bond funds have slowed compared to earlier in the year. Higher rates may dampen economic growth and the market outlook remains uncertain. However, with inflation at a 40-year high, the general importance of investing for the long-term to prevent savings from losing their real-term value remains as true as ever.”

FUNDS UNDER MANAGEMENT AND NET SALES 

                                 

Funds Under Management  

Net Retail Sales  

Net Institutional Sales  

May 2022   

£1.5 trillion 

-£822 million 

-£3.9 billion

May 2021 

£1.5 trillion 

£3.6 billion

-£657 million 

BEST SELLING INVESTMENT ASSOCIATION SECTORS   

The five best-selling Investment Association sectors for May 2022 were: 

  1. Short Term Money Market with net retail sales of £524 million. 
  2. North America was second with net retail sales of £444 million. 
  3. Flexible Investment followed with net retail sales of £429 million. 
  4. Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares was fourth with net retail sales of £322 million. 
  5. Infrastructure was fifth with £312 million. 
     

The worst-selling Investment Association sector in May 2022 was £ Corporate Bond, which experienced outflows of £1.8 billion. 

NET RETAIL SALES BY ASSET CLASS 

Mixed Asset funds was the best-selling asset class in May 2022, with £653 million in net retail sales. 

Other funds (which includes the Targeted Absolute Return, Volatility Managed, and Unclassified sectors) was the second best-selling asset class, with £344 million of inflows. 

Property saw inflows of £62 million in May 2022.

Money Market funds was fourth with outflows of £53 million.  

Fixed Income funds saw £620 million in outflows.

Equity funds saw £1.2 billion of outflows in May 2022.

NET RETAIL SALES OF EQUITY FUNDS BY REGION* 

North America was the best-selling equity fund region in May 2022, with net retail sales of £441 million.

All other equity regions experienced outflows.

Asia funds saw net retail outflows of £98 million. 

Global funds saw net retail outflows of £134 million.

Japan funds saw £616 million in outflows, while Europe funds saw outflows of £714 million.

UK funds saw outflows of £1.2 billion.

TRACKER FUNDS 

Tracker funds saw a net retail inflow of £877 million in May 2022. Tracker funds under management stood at £290 billion as of the end of May. Their overall share of industry funds under management was 19.8%. 

RESPONSIBLE INVESTMENT FUNDS 

Responsible investment funds saw a net retail inflow of £1.2 billion in May 2022. Responsible investment funds under management stood at £86 billion as of the end of May. Their overall share of industry funds under management was 5.9%. 

GROSS RETAIL SALES BY DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL 

In May, gross retail sales for UK fund platforms totalled £13 billion, representing a market share of 34.8%.  

Gross retail sales through Other UK Intermediaries including IFAs were £17 billion, representing a market share of 43.8%.  

Direct gross retail sales in May were £850 million, representing a market share of 2.2 %.  

ENDS 

For further information, please contact: 

Katie Martin, Head of Communications: [email protected] 

T: +44 (0)20 7269 4625 

Arianna Schardt, Communications Executive: [email protected]

T: +44 7548841289

IA press office: [email protected] 

Notes for Editors  

This data includes the six new sectors launched from the Investment Association’s (IA) Global and Specialist sectors on Monday 13 September 2021. 

Currently, the two sectors are among the largest within the classification scheme, with 471 funds included within the IA Global sector and 332 in the IA Specialist sector. As the retail fund market evolves and grows, the creation of the new sectors will help investors to more easily find similar types of funds. The decision to create the new sectors was taken by the IA Sectors Committee after a public consultation with the industry and sector users.  

New country - regional equity sectors:  

  • Latin America 
  • India/Indian Subcontinent 

Industry sectors: 

  • Financials and Financial Innovation 
  • Healthcare 

Alternative investment approaches: 

  • Infrastructure 
  • Commodity/Natural Resources 

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: 

Asia

Europe

Global

Japan

North America

UK

Asia Pacific excl. Japan

Europe excl. UK

Global

Japan

North America

UK All Companies

Asia Pacific incl. Japan

Europe incl. UK

Global Emerging Markets

Japanese Smaller Companies

North America Smaller Companies

UK Equity Income

China/Greater China

Europe Smaller Companies

Global Equity Income

 

 

UK Smaller Companies

India/Indian Subcontinent

 

Specialist

 

 

 

 

 

Healthcare

 

 

 

 

 

Technology and Technology innovation

 

 

 

 

 

Financials and Financial innovation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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, Quilter, 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 270 members manage £9.4 trillion of assets and the investment management industry supports 114,000 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 over a third (37%) of all assets managed in Europe.