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 For Immediate Release:  Wednesday 28 January 2004

 

INVESTMENT FUND STATISTICS 

 December 2003

 

  • Investment funds under management £240 billion

  • Gross industry sales £4.3 billion (December 2002 £3.3 billion)

  • Gross retail sales £2.4 billion (December 2002 £1.7 billion)

  • Gross ISA sales £372 million (December 2002 £327 million)

  • 2003 Gross industry sales £46.9 billion (2002 £47.6 billion)

  • 2003 Gross retail sales £27.5 billion (2002 £27.6 billion)

  • 2003 Gross ISA sales £5.5 billion (2002 £6.5 billion)

 

December 2003

Investment funds under management continued to grow in December for the third consecutive month to £240 billion, an increase of 3% on November and 24% from December 2002. ISA funds under management rose 4% from the previous month and saw a 36% growth over December 2002.

Net retail sales of £833.5 million were up 74% from November. Net sales of ISAs rose by 5% from November to £209.3 million, but were still slightly down from the previous year.

December’s most popular sectors were UK All Companies, accounting for 21% of gross retail sales, and UK Corporate Bonds, accounting for 13%. These funds were predominantly distributed through the intermediary channel (72%), with ISA investors continuing to favour the sales force/tied agent channel (47%).

Richard Saunders, Chief Executive of the IMA commented:

“Despite a rocky start to the year, net sales of investment funds to retail investors in 2003 in fact turned out slightly above last year. The final three months of the year accounted for over a quarter of total gross sales, with December being particularly strong. December also saw the UK All Companies sector once again become the most popular with retail investors by a significant margin."

2003 Summary

Total funds under management grew significantly in 2003 to £240 billion from £195 billion at the start of the year. ISA funds under management were up 36% at £31 billion. 

Institutional sales

Institutional inflows of £19.5 billion (gross) accounted for 42% of total sales of investment funds in 2003, the most favoured sector being the UK All Companies sector, which took 23% of institutional gross sales. Net institutional sales also grew to £1,807 million, from £348 million in 2002.

Retail sales

Gross retail sales of £27.5 billion, were broadly in line with 2002. Net retail sales of £7,946 million were 5% up on the previous year. The most popular sector was UK Corporate Bonds, which accounted for 22% of total gross retail sales for 2003.

ISAs

Gross ISA sales in 2003 were £5.5 billion, about 16% below the level of 2002. In net terms, inflows were £3,480 million, some 27% below the previous year. ISA funds under management, however, continued to rise to £31 billion, an increase of 36% on the previous year. The most popular sectors for ISA investors were UK Corporate Bonds (34%) and UK All Companies (29%).

Asset Split

Investment into bonds increased by 12% from 2002 to account for 57% of net retail sales of unit trusts and OEICs. Conversely, sales of UK equities dropped to 26% from 31% in the previous year, while managed funds of 6% fell from 10% in 2002.

Summary table: December – Unit Trust, ISA and PEP data

 

Dec-03

 

Nov-03

 

Dec-02

 

Total funds under management

£240.5

bn

£233.8

bn

£194.5

bn

ISA funds

£31.0

bn

£29.9

bn

£22.7

bn

PEP funds

£37.7

bn

£37.0

bn

£35.2

bn

OEIC funds

£150.2

bn

£145.4

bn

£106.3

bn

Total gross sales

£4,341.0

m

£3,805.7

m

£3,305.2

m

Gross retail sales

£2,397.4

m

£2,220.2

m

£1,677.6

m

Gross ISA sales

£372.4

m

£389.3

m

£326.5

m

Gross PEP sales

£73.9

m

£103.1

m

£66.6

m

Gross institutional sales

£1,943.6

m

£1,585.6

m

£1,627.6

m

Total repurchases

£3,442.3

m

£3,785.1

m

£2,718.6

m

Retail repurchases

£1,563.9

m

£1,740.7

m

£1,406.7

m

ISA repurchases

£163.2

m

£189.2

m

£115.1

m

PEP repurchases

£221.7

m

£252.7

m

£214.8

m

Institutional repurchases

£1,878.4

m

£2,044.5

m

£1,311.8

m

Total net sales

£898.7

m

£20.6

m

£586.6

m

Net retail sales

£833.5

m

£479.5

m

£270.9

m

Net ISA sales

£209.3

m

£200.1

m

£211.3

m

Net PEP sales

-£147.7

m

-£149.7

m

-£148.3

m

Net Institutional sales

£65.2

m

-£458.9

m

£315.8

m

Total accounts

19.11

m

19.24

m

18.89

m

ISA accounts

8.17

m

8.18

m

7.80

m

PEP accounts

6.76

m

6.86

m

7.51

m

Number of funds

1,924

 

1,930

 

1,957

 

Number of companies

129

 

128

 

130

 

Number of OEIC providers

72

 

72

 

71

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Regular Savings: No. of Plan Holders

 

Q1 2000

Q2 2000

Q3 2000

Q4 2000

Q1 2001

Q2 2001

Q3 2001

Q4 2001

PEP/ISA

1,408,040

1,508,137

1,593,089

1,657,533

1,711,011

1,761,793

1,736,393

1,656,675
Non PEP/ISA

294,794

357,795

366,294

362,485

319,893

319,365

311,045

331,663
Total

1,702,834

1,865,932

1,959,383

2,020,018

2,030,904

2,081,158

2,047,438

1,988,338

 

 

Q1 2002
Q2 2002

Q3 2002

Q4 2002

Q1 2003
Q2 2003

Q3 2003

Q4 2003

PEP/ISA

1,657,111

1,593,893

1,560,062

1,554,530

1,537,339

1,480,035

1,516,147

1,509,969
Non PEP/ISA

336,886

344,931

335,185

337,113

338,670

324,080

287,211

273,297
Total

1,993,997

1,938,824

1,895,247

1,891,243

1,876,019

1,804,115

1,803,358

1,783,266