Fund sales topped £1 billion in July as Equity funds hit highest inflow since December 2021
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
7 September 2023
As inflation starts to fall and the growth outlook has slightly improved, UK investor allocations to equities turned markedly positive in July, according to data published today by the Investment Association (IA).
Key findings for July 2023:
- Net retail sales topped £1 billion in July, with Equity funds returning to inflows with £816 million invested.
- Mixed asset funds and Fixed Income funds were also saw inflows this month of £861 million and £520 million respectively.
- £ Corporate Bond was once again the top-selling sector with net retail sales of £287 million.
- North American equity funds experienced a third month of outflows with £1.46 billion taken out from May to July.
Chris Cummings, Chief Executive of the Investment Association, said:
“As the rate of inflation starts to fall more markedly and recession expectations moderate, sentiment is becoming more positive. Whilst investors had been reducing their investments in recent months amidst a very unclear economic outlook, July saw net sales of just over £1bn. Equity, fixed income and mixed asset funds all benefited from this renewed optimism, with inflows into equity funds reaching £816 million – the highest since December 2021.”
FUNDS UNDER MANAGEMENT AND NET SALES
|
|
Funds Under Management |
Net Retail Sales |
Net Institutional Sales |
|
July 2023 |
£1.44 trillion |
£1.0 billion |
-£7.47 billion |
|
July 2022 |
£1.43 trillion |
-£106 million |
-£9.35 billion |
BEST SELLING INVESTMENT ASSOCIATION SECTORS
The five best-selling Investment Association sectors for July 2023 were:
- £ Corporate Bond with net retail sales of £287 million.
- Volatility Managed with net retail sales of £251 million.
- Global Equity Income followed with net retail sales of £243 million.
- Corporate Bond with net retail sales of £209 million.
- Short Term Money Market was fifth with net retail sales of £132 million.
The worst-selling Investment Association sector in July 2023 was UK All Companies, which experienced outflows of £710 million.
NET RETAIL SALES BY ASSET CLASS
Mixed Asset funds saw inflows of £861 million.
Equity funds saw inflows of £816 million.
Fixed Income funds saw inflows of £520 million.
Property funds experienced £86 million in outflows.
Other funds saw £171 million in outflows.
Money Market saw outflows of £912 million.
NET RETAIL SALES OF EQUITY FUNDS BY REGION*
Global funds saw net retail inflows of £318 million.
Japan funds experienced inflows of £31 million.
Asia funds saw net retail inflows of £18 million.
Europe funds saw outflows of £47 million.
North America funds saw outflows of £470 million.
UK funds saw outflows of £1 billion.
TRACKER FUNDS
Tracker funds saw net retail inflows of £702 million in July 2023. Tracker funds under management stood at £301 billion at the end of July. Their overall share of industry funds under management was 20.9%.
RESPONSIBLE INVESTMENT FUNDS
Responsible investment funds saw a net retail outflow of £39 million in July 2023. Responsible investment funds under management stood at £98 billion at the end of July. Their overall share of industry funds under management was 6.8%.
GROSS RETAIL SALES BY DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL
Gross retail sales for UK fund platforms totalled £13.1 billion, representing a market share of 34.8%.
Gross retail sales through other UK Intermediaries including IFAs totalled £12.4 billion, representing a market share of 32.9%.
Gross retail sales for Discretionary Manager totalled £1.7 billion, representing a market share of 4.6%.
Direct gross retail sales totalled £6.9 billion, representing a market share of 18.3%.
In July, Execution only intermediaries totalled £480 million in gross retail sales and accounted for 1.3% of the market.
ENDS
For further information, please contact:
Helen Ayres, Head of Communications: [email protected]
T: +44 (0)20 7269 4625
IA press office: [email protected]
Notes for Editors
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:
|
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 250 members manage £10.0 trillion of assets and the investment management industry supports 122,000 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.
