US equity funds bounce back in Q1 2024 with £1.5 billion inflow – IA Monthly Stats Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
UK investors returned to the fund markets in March 2024, resulting in inflows to the tune of £446 million, according to data published by the Investment Association (IA) - the first inflow to the fund market since last April. These inflows followed a difficult month in February where investors took £2.7 billion from funds.
Key findings for March 2024 – Global was the best-selling IA sector
- Global was the best-selling IA sector, with inflows totalling £842 million in March.
- Fixed Income funds saw significant inflows in the month, with £809 million invested. However, data also showed allocations to Fixed Income are starting to plateau as investors anticipate a cut to rates in 2024 and other asset classes begin to regain both popularity and strength. Equities also saw inflows of £149 million – the first inflow since December 2021.
- Mixed Asset continues to see outflows of £272 million, albeit at a milder rate from £975 million in February.
- Responsible Investments again saw a sharp rise in outflows, rising to £329 million from just £1 million in February.
- Tracker funds maintained steady inflows of £2,9 billion, up a further £800 million from February (£2.1 billion).
Key highlights from Q1 2024
- Q1 experienced a bumpy start with heavy outflows in January and February of £1.1 billion and £2.7 billion, respectively. March has seen a change in sentiment, boosted by the end of the ISA season, but it will need to be seen if this signals a marked return to inflows.
- Inflows to US equities in Q1 2024 rose to £1.5 billion, more than doubling the inflows of Q4 2023 which saw £625 million invested. This has been driven by the dominance of the Magnificent Seven and advisers and wealth managers choosing US stocks if they re-allocate into equities.
- Tracker funds saw steady sales culminating in an inflow of £6.6 billion, which was boosted by a return in investor appetite for equities. This contrasts with overall outflows for the quarter of £3.3 billion.
Monthly Net Retail Sales by Asset Class
Spotlight on Responsible Investing:
Responsible investing faces continued challenges among investors, with IA data showing three consecutive quarters of outflows from responsible investment funds invested in equities and mixed assets.
Monthly Net Retail Sales to Responsible Investment Funds
Miranda Seath, Director, Market Insight & Fund Sectors at the Investment Association, said:
“Inflationary pressures eased towards the end of 2023, and alongside expectations of interest rate cuts, this resulted in a more optimistic outlook among investors. Whilst inflation continues to fall, expectations of rate cuts have been scaled back quite dramatically in April, following recent data that suggests inflation will take longer to fall back to target levels. It remains to be seen how investors will react to this, which coincides with continued geopolitical tensions.
“Markets have not yet wobbled at escalating geo-political tensions and there are growing signs of investor confidence boosted by sales bump as investors look to top up their ISA allowances before the end of the tax year. As equity performance improves, particularly in the US we have seen Funds under management rise: FUM is up 3% in Q1 and 11% from the recent low at the end of October. North America equity funds performed particularly strongly in the first quarter of the year with high inflows of £1.5 billion born out of stronger growth rates in the US. the dominance of The Magnificent Seven stocks, as well as the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decisions helping to tame inflation, which has fallen faster in the US than in the UK and Europe.”
ENDS
APPENDIX
FUNDS UNDER MANAGEMENT AND NET SALES – March 2024
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Funds Under Management |
Net Retail Sales |
Net Institutional Sales |
|
March 2024 |
£1.47 trillion |
446 million |
-£1,363 billion |
|
March 2023 |
£1.38 trillion |
-£229 million |
-£10.7 billion |
BEST SELLING INVESTMENT ASSOCIATION SECTORS
The five best-selling Investment Association sectors for March 2024 were:
- Global with net retail sales of £842 million.
- North America with net retail sales of £469 million.
- Volatility Managed followed with net retail sales of £344 million.
- Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares with net retail sales of £255 million.
- Corporate Bond was fifth with net retail sales of £251 million.
The worst-selling Investment Association sector in March 2024 was UK All Companies, which experienced outflows of £887 million.
NET RETAIL SALES BY ASSET CLASS
Fixed Income saw £809 million in inflows.
Equity funds saw £149 million in inflows.
Money Market saw £16 million in outflows.
Property saw £67 million in outflows.
Others saw £157 million in outflows.
Mixed Asset saw £272 million in outflows.
NET RETAIL SALES OF EQUITY FUNDS BY REGION*
Global funds saw net retail inflows of £753 million.
North America experienced inflows of £654 million.
Japan funds experienced inflows of £145 million.
Asia funds experienced outflows of £71million
Europe funds experienced outflows of £158 million.
UK funds saw net retail outflows of £1.3 billion.
TRACKER FUNDS
Tracker funds saw net retail inflows of £2,9 billion in March 2024. Tracker funds under management stood at £345 billion at the end of March. Their overall share of industry funds under management was 23.5%.
RESPONSIBLE INVESTMENT FUNDS
Responsible investment funds saw a net retail outflow of £329 million in March 2024. Responsible investment funds under management stood at £106 billion at the end of March. Their overall share of industry funds under management was 7.2%.
ENDS
For further information, please contact:
Helen Ayres, Head of Communications: [email protected].
T: +44 7596 872575
Ismail Abdi, Communications Executive, [email protected]
+44 7596 872575
IA press office: [email protected]
Notes to Editors
The Investment Association has made a data revision to its monthly fund statistics, which has resulted in revising down annual net retail sales over 2023. The change to flow data is principally from funds that are not allocated to the IA sectors. These sales appear in the Unallocated row on tab 7 of the 2023 press tables. This in turn has impacted on the reported total retail sales at industry and asset class level. There has been a small downward revision of FUM. Firms making revisions to the data reported have now submitted updated data to the IA with the revised year-end figures published in this month’s press release.
To see a breakdown of the fund 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:
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Asia |
Europe |
Global |
Japan |
North America |
UK |
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Asia Pacific excl. Japan |
Europe excl. UK |
Global |
Japan |
North America |
UK All Companies |
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Asia Pacific incl. Japan |
Europe incl. UK |
Global Emerging Markets |
Japanese Smaller Companies |
North America Smaller Companies |
UK Equity Income |
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China/Greater China |
Europe Smaller Companies |
Global Equity Income |
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UK Smaller Companies |
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India/Indian Subcontinent |
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Specialist |
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Healthcare |
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Technology and Technology innovation |
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Financials and Financial innovation |
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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 250 members manage £8.8 trillion of assets and the investment management industry supports 126,400 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
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- 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.
