For Immediate Release:  Monday 31 January 2005

 

INVESTMENT FUND STATISTICS 

December 2004

 

  • Investment funds under management £275 billion

  • Gross industry sales £5.1 billion (December 2003 £4.3 billion)

  • Gross retail sales £2.4 billion (December 2003 £2.5 billion)

  • Gross ISA sales £338 million (December 2003 £372 million)

  • 2004 Gross industry sales £54.5 billion (2003 £46.9 billion)

  • 2004 Gross retail sales £30.3 billion (2003 £28 billion)

  • 2004 Gross ISA sales £5.5 billion (2003 £5.5 billion)

December 2004

2004 ended with investment funds under management showing a 3% increase from November and a 14% rise from December 2003. ISA funds under management also improved, up 3% from November and 21% from the previous year.

Total net sales in December were 19% higher than the previous month but down by a quarter on December 2003. Net retail sales of £279 million were 22% down on November and 69% down on the previous year.

Net ISA sales improved for the third consecutive month, up 83% from November, reaching the highest level in six months. Sales however, continued to be down on the year, showing a 57% fall from December 2003.

The most popular sector in December was UK All Companies accounting for 23% of gross retail investment fund sales followed by UK Equity Income (16%).

Intermediaries were responsible for 76% of gross retail distribution of investment funds in December, while sales force/tied agents accounted for 47% of gross investment fund ISA sales.

Richard Saunders, Chief Executive of the IMA commented:

“2004 saw a marked decline in new money coming into investment funds and ISAs despite a second year of stock market growth. The reasons are many and complex but certainly include lack of confidence and attractive interest rates available elsewhere. Although sales began to pick up towards the end of the year they are still well behind those seen in previous years.”

2004 Summary

Despite slow sales in 2004, funds under management continued to increase. Total funds under management increased by 14% in 2004, while ISAs rose 21% to £37 billion. 

Institutional sales

Gross institutional inflows of £24 billion were up by 28% in 2004 and accounted for 44% of total gross inflows into the investment fund market. Net institutional sales however, were down 39% to just over £1 billion

Retail sales

Gross retail sales remained largely consistent with the previous year seeing an increase of 8% on 2003. In net terms however, sales were down significantly to £4.7 billion, a fall of 42% on the previous year. The majority of money flowing into investment funds in 2004 came through the intermediary channel and accounted for 73% of gross retail sales in 2004.

ISAs

Gross ISA sales were broadly in line with the previous year and were up from £5.48 billion in 2003 to £5.50 billion. Net ISA sales saw quite a turbulent year and went into negative territory for the first time since their introduction in 1999. In net terms ISA sales fell 42% from 2003

Asset split

In 2004 the asset split was more evenly distributed into UK equities and bonds compared to the previous year. In 2003 56% of net retail sales into investment funds were invested in bonds compared to only 27% in UK equities. 2004 saw a return to equities with 40% of net retail investment into unit trusts and OEICs being invested in UK equities while inflows into bonds only accounted for 32%.
 

Summary table: December 2004 – Unit Trust, OEIC, ISA and PEP data

 

Dec-04

 

Nov-04

 

Dec-03

 

Total funds under management

£275.4

bn

£267.9

bn

£241.1

bn

ISA funds

£37.3

bn

£36.5

bn

£31.0

bn

PEP funds

£38.0

bn

£37.2

bn

£37.7

bn

OEIC funds

£172.4

bn

£168.5

bn

£150.2

bn

Total gross sales

£5,088.1

m

£5,258.7

m

£4,343.1

m

Gross retail sales

£2,419.7

m

£2,596.1

m

£2,457.0

m

Gross ISA sales

£337.8

m

£407.0

m

£372.1

m

Gross PEP sales

£61.7

m

£96.1

m

£74.0

m

Gross institutional sales

£2,668.5

m

£2,662.6

m

£1,886.2

m

Total repurchases

£4,415.5

m

£4,692.4

m

£3,444.8

m

Retail repurchases

£2,140.4

m

£2,237.8

m

£1,569.4

m

ISA repurchases

£244.8

m

£356.3

m

£162.9

m

PEP repurchases

£241.5

m

£365.0

m

£221.6

m

Institutional repurchases

£2,275.1

m

£2,454.5

m

£1,875.4

m

Total net sales

£672.6

m

£566.3

m

£898.4

m

Net retail sales

£279.3

m

£358.3

m

£887.6

m

Net ISA sales

£92.9

m

£50.7

m

£209.1

m

Net PEP sales

-£179.7

m

-£268.8

m

-£147.6

m

Net Institutional sales

£393.4

m

£208.1

m

£10.8

m

Total accounts

18.26

m

18.27

m

19.11

m

ISA accounts

8.28

m

8.29

m

8.17

m

PEP accounts

5.97

m

5.96

m

6.76

m

Number of funds

1,975

 

1,968

 

1,924

 

Number of companies

122

 

122

 

129

 

Number of OEIC providers

76

 

75

 

72

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Best and worst selling sectors – net retail sales

Year

Month

Best

Worst

2004

December

UK Equity Income

North America

 

November

UK Equity Income

Global Growth

 

October

UK Equity Income

UK All Companies

 

September

UK Equity Income

UK All Companies

 

August

UK Equity Income

UK All Companies

 

July

UK Equity Income

Europe Excluding UK

 

June

UK Equity Income

Europe Excluding UK

 

May

Cautious Managed

Asia Pacific Excluding Japan

 

April

UK All Companies

Europe Excluding UK

 

March

UK Equity Income

North America

 

February

UK All Companies

UK Equity & Bond Income

 

January

UK All Companies

UK Smaller Companies

2003

December

UK All Companies

UK Smaller Companies

 

Regular Savings: No. of Plan Holders

 

Q1 2000

Q2 2000

Q3 2000

Q4 2000

Q1 2001

Q2 2001

Q3 2001

Q4 2001

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 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

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