INVESTMENT FUND INFLOWS EXCEED £5 BILLION THROUGH AUGUST

UK Investors continued to demonstrate their appetite for funds as inflows reached over £5.3 billion through August, according to data published today by the Investment Association. This represents the first time retail fund sales in the month of August have exceeded £5 billion.

Key findings in August include:

• Net retail sales in August were £5.3 billion, an increase on July’s inflows of £4.8.billion.
• Tracker fund sales remained steady at £1.2 billion.
• Responsible investment funds saw inflows of £1.3 billion, the 7th month in 2021 where inflows have exceeded £1 billion.
• Global was again the best-selling IA sector for the sixth time this year with net retail sales of £1 billion in August.
• UK equity funds experienced outflows of £445 million, compared to the inflows of £259 million in July.

Chris Cummings, Chief Executive of the Investment Association, said: “We have seen significant net retail sales to funds through the whole of summer 2021. Investors channelled £14.5 billion into funds from June to August as rising inflation combined with low interest rates continues to make funds attractive for savers.

“Responsible investment funds have consistently captured the interest of UK savers, who invested over £1 billion for the seventh consecutive month. UK investors are maintaining their commitment to deploying their capital for environmental and social good as well as seeking a financial return. In the run-up to the COP 26 climate conference in Glasgow, and as the UK government commits to generating 100% of electricity from renewables by 2035, investors can play an important role in helping to support the transition to Net Zero.”

FUNDS UNDER MANAGEMENT AND NET SALES

	Funds Under Management	Net Retail Sales	Net Institutional Sales
August 2021	£1.6 trillion	£5.3 billion	-£267 million
August 2020	£1.3 trillion	£2 billion	-£2.1 billion

BEST SELLING INVESTMENT ASSOCIATION SECTORS

The five best-selling Investment Association sectors for August 2021 were:

1. Global was first with net retail sales of £838 million.
2. Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares was second with net retail sales of £656 million.
3. Short Term Money Market was third with net retail sales of £625 million.
4. Volatility Managed followed with net retail sales of £403 million
5. Targeted Absolute Return was fifth with net retail sales of £198 million.

The worst-selling Investment Association sector in August 2021 was UK All Companies with an outflow of £354m.

NET RETAIL SALES BY ASSET CLASS

Money Market funds were the best-selling by asset class, with £1.6 billion of inflows.

Equity was the second best-selling asset class in August 2021 with £1.3 billion in net retail sales.

Mixed Asset funds experienced £921 million of inflows.

Other funds (which includes the Targeted Absolute Return, Volatility Managed, and Unclassified sectors) experienced £904 million of net retail sales.

Fixed Income funds received net retail sales of £575 million

Property funds experienced £23 million of inflows.

 

NET RETAIL SALES OF EQUITY FUNDS BY REGION*

Global was the best-selling equity fund region in August 2021, with net retail sales of £1.04 billion.

North America funds experienced net retail inflows of £122 million, compared with inflows of £19 million in July and Japan funds experienced inflows of £80 million, compared to inflows of £5 million in July.

Asia funds experienced net retail outflows of £57 million.

Europe funds saw net retail inflows of £55 million.

After inflows of £259 million in July UK funds saw retail outflows of £445 million.

 

TRACKER FUNDS

Tracker funds saw a net retail inflow of £1.3 billion in August 2021. Tracker funds under management stood at £288 billion as of the end of July. Their overall share of industry funds under management was 18.3%.

 

RESPONSIBLE INVESTMENT FUNDS

Responsible investment funds saw a net retail inflow of £1.3 billion in August 2021. Responsible investment funds under management stood at £85 billion as of the end of August. Their overall share of industry funds under management was 5.4%.

 

GROSS RETAIL SALES BY DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL

In August, gross retail sales for UK fund platforms totalled £11.6 billion, representing a market share of 48.6%.

Gross retail sales through Other UK Intermediaries including IFAs were £6.6 billion, representing a market share of 28%.

Direct gross retail sales in July were £1 billion, representing a market share of 4.3%.

 

ENDS

Katie Martin, Head of Communications: [email protected]

Clive Booth, Communications Manager: [email protected]

Camilla Esmund, Communications Executive: [email protected]

T: +44 (0)20 7269 4625

IA press office: [email protected]

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:

 

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
		Specialist
		Technology and Telecommunications

 

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.