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For immediate release: Monday 27 March 2006

INVESTMENT FUND STATISTICS
February 2006

Summary 

• Investment funds under management £370 billion (February 2005 £286 billion)
• Total net industry sales £2.1 billion (February 2005 £1.1 billion)
• Net retail sales £1.4 billion (February 2005 £578 million)
• Net ISA sales £131 million (February 2005 £86 million)

Funds under management 
Investment funds under management of £370 billion in February saw a rise of 3% from January and were 30% higher than February 2005. ISA funds under management of £47 billion saw an increase of 2% from the previous month, and were 22% higher than the previous year.

Graph showing funds under management since February 2005.

ISA sales 
Net ISA sales of £131 million in February were 60% higher than January and were up 53% from February 2005.  The most popular ISA sector in February was UK All Companies, accounting for 25% of gross ISA sales.   

Net sales by asset class 
Total net sales were £2.1 billion with equities accounting for inflows of £1.3 billion. Of the £1.4 billion net retail sales, £903 million was invested in equities, followed by £195 million in bonds.

Graph showing net retail sales over the last 13 months.

Gross retail sales by sector and distribution channel 
The most popular sector was UK All Companies, representing 20% of gross retail sales. The sector was favoured by intermediaries and accounted for 19% of gross retail business through this channel.  

The most popular distribution channel in February was the intermediary channel representing 81% of gross retail business. Sales force/tied agents remained the dominant distributor of gross ISA business representing sales of £198 million. This was followed by sales of £189 million through fund supermarkets. 

Best selling sector 
The Specialist sector remained the most popular net retail sector with inflows of £336 million, of which 70% was invested in the property funds in this sector.  The sector with the biggest outflows in February was Europe excluding UK with net outflows of £36 million.

Richard Saunders, Chief Executive of the IMA commented:

“Net retail sales breached £1 billion for the fourth consecutive month, something which has not been seen for five years. There has also been a notable upsurge in interest in equity and property funds.  Prospects for a strong ISA season in 2006 continue to look promising.”

-Ends-

Glossary

Detailed tables
1. Summary table 
2. Funds under management by asset class
3. Unit trust/OEIC sales
4. Net sales by asset class
5. Gross retail sales – 10 year summary
6. Sector summary – current month
7. Retail business by sector and channel – current month
8. Summary of best and worst selling sectors
9. Funds under management – 13 month chart
10. Net retail sales – 13 month chart
11. Performance of average fund by IMA sector

If you have any comments on presentation of the monthly statistics please e-mail press@investmentuk.org

For further information, please contact:
Helen Stephenson, Communications Officer, IMA,  020 7831 0898
 
Out of hours contact:
Mona Patel, Head of Communications, IMA 07834 089332