Net fund flows remain positive, while Fixed Income Funds turn to outflow
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
5 October 2023
UK savers put £354 million into funds in August 2023, according to data published today from the Investment Association (IA), largely driven by inflows into Tracker Funds.
Key findings for August 2023:
-
Inflows into Tracker Funds doubled to £1.6 billion, from £860 million in July.
-
Fixed Income Funds saw outflows of £356 million – the first outflows since October 2022, including outflows from all Sterling fixed income sectors.
-
Responsible investments experienced a record outflow at £448 million, following a period of weaker sales,
-
Global was the best-selling sector, with net retail sales of £368 million.
-
Global Equity Income sector saw outflows of £66 million, the first outflows since November 2021.
Chris Cummings, Chief Executive of the Investment Association, said:
“August, typically a quieter month, saw muted net inflows after a strong July. Consumer confidence about the economy remains unsteady with the impact being felt of the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. While wage growth overtook inflation in June 2023 – the first time since November 2021 – there is still a gap to be bridged between disposable income and investment activity.
“Fixed Income fund flows turned negative for the first time since October 2022. Notably, inflows into index tracking funds doubled to £1.6 billion with strong sales to equity trackers.”
FUNDS UNDER MANAGEMENT AND NET SALES
|
|
Funds Under Management |
Net Retail Sales |
Net Institutional Sales |
|
August 2023 |
£1.39 trillion |
354 million |
-£3.5 billion |
|
August 2022 |
£1.42 trillion |
-2.6 billion |
£8 million |
BEST SELLING INVESTMENT ASSOCIATION SECTORS
The five best-selling Investment Association sectors for August 2023 were:
-
Global with net retail sales of £368 million.
-
Volatility Managed with net retail sales of £203 million.
-
UK Gilts followed with net retail sales of £174 million.
-
Asia Pacific Excluding Japan with net retail sales of £112 million.
-
Technology and Technology Innovation was fifth with net retail sales of £46 million.
The worst-selling Investment Association sector in August 2023 was UK All Companies, which experienced outflows of £747 million.
NET RETAIL SALES BY ASSET CLASS
Equity funds saw inflows of £652 million.
Mixed Asset funds saw inflows of £481 million.
Money Market saw inflows of £29 million.
Property funds experienced £81 million in outflows.
Fixed Income funds saw outflows of £356 million.
Other funds saw £370 million in outflows.
NET RETAIL SALES OF EQUITY FUNDS BY REGION*
Asia funds saw net retail inflows of £89 million.
Global funds saw net retail inflows of £43 million.
Japan funds experienced inflows of £2 million.
Europe funds saw outflows of £99 million.
North America funds saw outflows of £157 million.
UK funds saw outflows of £1.1 billion.
TRACKER FUNDS
Tracker funds saw net retail inflows of £1.6 billion in August 2023. Tracker funds under management stood at £300 billion at the end of August. Their overall share of industry funds under management was 21.6%.
RESPONSIBLE INVESTMENT FUNDS
Responsible investment funds saw a net retail outflow of £448 million in August 2023. Responsible investment funds under management stood at £96 billion at the end of August. Their overall share of industry funds under management was 6.9%.
GROSS RETAIL SALES BY DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL
Gross retail sales for UK fund platforms totalled £13.7 billion, representing a market share of 48.2%.
Gross retail sales through other UK Intermediaries including IFAs totalled £8.9 billion, representing a market share of 31.5%.
Gross retail sales for Discretionary Manager totalled £1.5 billion, representing a market share of 5.4%.
Direct gross retail sales totalled £621 million, representing a market share of 2.2%.
In August, Execution only intermediaries totalled £115 million in gross retail sales and accounted for 0.4% of the market.
ENDS
For further information, please contact:
Ismail Abdi, Communications Trainee: [email protected]
T: +44 7596 872575
Helen Moore, Communications Manager: [email protected]
T: +44 7596 872562
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.
