- Property was the best-selling Investment Association sector in February with net retail sales of £304 million
- Net retail sales were £845 million compared to £320 million in January
- Equity funds saw a net retail outflow for a second consecutive month
Daniel Godfrey, The Investment Association Chief Executive, said:
“Although net retail sales in February were up from the levels we saw in January, they are still considerably lower year-on-year.
“Property funds saw the greatest inflow whilst equity funds, which sold so well last year, saw a small net retail outflow for the second month running. Investors reduced their holdings of UK and North American equity funds in February in favour of Global, European and Japanese equity funds.”
ASSETS
Property continued to be the best-selling asset class in February with net retail sales of £304 million.
Mixed Asset funds saw net retail sales of £137 million in February 2015, up from £65 million in January.
Fixed Income funds had net retail sales of £130 million in February, down from £146 million in January.
Equity saw negative net retail sales for the second consecutive month in February with an outflow of £59 million.
NET RETAIL SALES OF EQUITY FUNDS BY REGION
Global equity funds continued to be the best-selling in February with net retail sales of £403 million.
European equity funds were the second best-selling with net retail sales £266 million, the highest since April 2014.
Japanese equity funds were the third best-selling region with net retail sales of £173 million, the highest on record (January 1992).
North American equity funds saw a net retail outflow of £356 million, representing the biggest outflow on record (January 1992).
UK equity funds again saw a net retail outflow in February, this time reaching £530m. This is the largest net outflow since the £558m outflow recorded in January 2008.
THE INVESTMENT ASSOCIATION SECTOR RANKINGS
The top five best-selling Investment Association sectors for February 2015 were:
- Property with net retail sales of £304 million. The last time this sector was the best-selling was in May 2014.
- UK Equity Income with net retail sales of £248 million. This had been the best-selling sector for eight consecutive months.
- Global with net retail sales of £197 million.
- Europe Excluding UK with net retail sales of £192 million. This is the first time it has been in the top five selling sectors since January 2014, when it was fifth.
- Global Equity Income with net retail sales of £175 million.
The worst-selling Investment Association sector for February 2015 was UK All Companies which saw a net retail outflow of £612 million.
RETAIL DISTRIBUTION
In February, UK fund platforms continued to see the highest gross retail sales at £6.3 billion, representing a 50.1% market share (51.9% in February 2014).
Gross retail sales for Other Intermediaries (includes Wealth Managers, Stockbrokers and IFAs) totalled £4.7 billion in February representing a market share of 37.5% (40.8% in February 2014).
Direct gross retail sales in February were £1.6 billion, representing a market share of 12.4% (7.3% in February 2014). The last time direct gross retail sales were as high, in both absolute and relative terms, was in April 2012 representing a 17.0% market share.
FUND PLATFORM PRODUCT SALES
For the five fund platforms that provide data to The Investment Association (Cofunds, Fidelity, Hargreaves Lansdown, Skandia and Transact) net sales for February were £831 million.
Personal Pensions had the highest net sales at £401 million, followed by Unwrapped (£304 million), ISAs (£136 million) and Insurance Bonds (-£11 million).
For the same five fund platforms, funds under management as at the end of February 2015 were £191 billion, compared with £168 billion a year earlier.
ISAs**
In February 2015, ISAs saw a net retail outflow of £102 million through fund companies and the five fund platforms that provide data to The Investment Association (Cofunds, Fidelity, Hargreaves Lansdown, Skandia and Transact), compared to a net retail outflow of £4 million in February 2014.
The top three best-selling sectors for ISAs based on the five fund platforms were:
1. UK Equity Income (£68 million net sales)
2. Property (£24 million net sales)
3. Europe Excluding UK (£21 million net sales)
FUND OF FUNDS
Net retail sales for funds of funds in February 2015 were £218million.
For funds of funds invested with different asset management firms saw net retail sales of £97 million, compared to net retail sales of £121 million for funds of funds invested into the same firm’s funds.
Funds under management for funds of funds were at £101.8 billion as at the end of February 2015, accounting for 11.7% of industry funds under management, compared with 11.3% in February 2014.
TRACKER FUNDS
Tracker funds saw net retail sales £358 million with funds under management of £98.7 billion as at the end of February 2015. Their overall share of industry funds under management was 11.3%, compared with 9.9% in February 2014.
ETHICAL FUNDS
Net retail sales of ethical funds were £26 million in February 2015. Funds under management were £9.8 billion at the end of January, representing a 1.1% share of industry funds under management.
INSTITUTIONAL SALES
There was a net institutional outflow of £1,261 million in February 2015, the largest part due to some insurance monies transferring out of unit trust or OEIC structures.
OVERSEAS DOMICILED FUNDS
In February 2015, there were net retail sales of £314 million of overseas domiciled funds.