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For immediate release: Monday 31 July 2006

INVESTMENT FUND STATISTICS
June 2006

Summary  

• Investment funds under management £370 billion (June 2005 £298 billion)
• Total net industry sales £722 million (June 2005 £362 million)
• Net retail sales £1.1 billion (June 2005 £564 million)
• Net ISA sales £191 million (June 2005 £62 million)
  

Funds under management 
Investment funds under management of £370 billion in June saw a 1% increase from May and were 24% higher than June 2005. ISA funds under management of £48 billion also rose 1% from the previous month, and were 16% higher than the previous year.

Graph showing funds under management since June 2005.

ISA sales 
Net ISA sales of £191 million in June were up 24% from May and were more than three times higher than the £61.9 million in June 2005.  The most popular ISA sector in June was UK All Companies, accounting for 22% of gross ISA sales. The quarter ending June 2006 saw ISA sales of £1.3 billion, the highest quarter since Q2 2003. 

Net sales by asset class 
Total net sales were £722 million in June with bonds accounting for inflows of £559 million. Of the £1.1 billion net retail sales, £420 million was invested in bonds followed by £296 million in balanced funds. The first half of 2006 saw net retail sales reach £8.2 billion, only 3% lower than the total net retail sales for the whole of 2005.

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 17% of gross retail sales. The sector was favoured by intermediaries and accounted for 18% of gross retail business through this channel.   

The most popular distribution channel in June was the intermediary channel representing 80% of gross retail business. Gross ISA sales of £254 million from fund supermarkets made them the dominant distributor of ISAs, followed by £233 million worth of sales through sales force/tied agents.

Best selling sector 
The Specialist sector remained the most popular net retail sector with inflows of £349 million, of which £307 million was in the sector’s property funds.

The sector with the biggest outflows  in June was the Europe excluding UK sector with net outflows of £161 million.

Richard Saunders, Chief Executive of the IMA commented:

“Retail investors put over £8 billion into funds in the first six months of 2006, just about matching the total for the whole of the previous year, and putting 2006 on track for easily the biggest net inflows since 2000.

 We believe that much of this investment is coming through fund supermarkets and life company platforms, which are rapidly becoming a major force in the investment market. Platforms are changing the face of retail distribution with investors and their advisers making use of the greater choice and flexibility these offer for new and existing products.  It is clear that real change is afoot in the market.”

-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