01
Oct
2020

Staycation savers invest £1.8bn in August as recovery continues

Thursday 1 October 2020

UK savers put £1.8 billion into retail funds in August 2020, compared to an outflow of more than £500m in August 2019, according to latest figures published today by the Investment Association (IA). The other key findings:

  • Bond funds continued to see strong net retail sales reaching £1.4 billion in August.
  • Tracker funds remain steady, with net retail sales of £1.3 billion in August, while active funds also saw an inflow of more than £500 million.
  • Equity funds saw a return to positive net retail sales of £340 million in August, while UK equities saw outflows of £748 million.

Chris Cummings, Chief Executive of the Investment Association, said:

“The last month of summer saw a cementing of saver confidence with £1.8 billion put into funds throughout August, in a further bolstering of the COVID-19 fund market recovery. 

“Marrying financial returns with environmental, social and governance considerations continued to be popular with investors in August. Responsible investment funds attracted almost £900 million, proving their resilience amidst ongoing economic uncertainty.”
  
FUNDS UNDER MANAGEMENT AND NET SALES

  Funds Under Management Net Retail Sales Net Institutional Sales
August 2020 £1.3 trillion £1.8 billion -£2.2 billion
August 2019 £1.3 trillion -£565 million £2 billion

BEST SELLING INVESTMENT ASSOCIATION SECTORS  
 
The five best-selling Investment Association sectors for August 2020 were:
 
1.    Global was first with net retail sales of £705 million.

2.    Global Bonds was second with net retail sales of £581 million. 

3.    Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares followed with net retail sales of £428 million. 

4.    £ Strategic Bond was fourth with net retail sales of £316 million. 

5.    Europe Excluding UK was fifth with net retail sales of £296 million. 

The worst-selling Investment Association sector in August 2020 was Short Term Money Market with an outflow of £557 million.

NET RETAIL SALES BY ASSET CLASS

Fixed Income was the best-selling asset class in August 2020 with £1.4 billion in net retail sales.

Mixed Asset was the second best-selling asset class, with £541 million of inflows.

Equity funds experienced £340 million of inflows. 

Other funds (which includes the Targeted Absolute Return, Volatility Managed, and Unclassified sectors) experienced £294 million of net retail inflows in August.

Property funds however experienced £3 million in net retail outflows. 

Money Market funds followed with net retail outflows in August of £743 million.

NET RETAIL SALES OF EQUITY FUNDS BY REGION*

Global was the best-selling equity fund region in August 2020, with net retail sales of £534 million.

Europe funds were second, seeing net retail inflows of £305 million.

Asia funds came next with net retail inflows in August of £220 million. 

Japan funds experienced net retail outflows of £11 million.

North America funds saw net retail outflows of £20 million.

UK funds saw net retail outflows of £748 million.

TRACKER FUNDS

Tracker funds saw a net retail inflow of £1.3 billion in August 2020. Tracker funds under management stood at £239 billion as of the end of August. Their overall share of industry funds under management was 18.2%.

RESPONSIBLE INVESTMENT FUNDS

Responsible investment funds saw a net retail inflow of £897 million in August 2020. Responsible investment funds under management stood at £36 billion as of the end of August. Their overall share of industry funds under management was 2.7%.

GROSS RETAIL SALES BY DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL

In August, gross retail sales for UK fund platforms totalled £9 billion, representing a market share of 49%.

Gross retail sales through Other UK Intermediaries including IFAs were £5 billion, representing a market share of 24%.

Direct gross retail sales in August were £1.2 billion, representing a market share of 6%.

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:

Equity regions

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 £8.5 trillion of assets and the investment management industry supports 113,000 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.