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For immediate release: Monday 25 September 2006

INVESTMENT FUND STATISTICS
August 2006

Summary  

• Investment funds under management £378 billion (August 2005 £313 billion)
• Total net industry sales £1.7 billion (August 2005 £1.9 billion)
• Net retail sales £1 billion (August 2005 £798 million)
• Net ISA sales £58 million (August 2005 £68 million)

Funds under management 
Investment funds under management of £378 billion in August saw a rise of 1% from July and were 21% higher than August 2005. ISA funds under management of £48.4 billion saw an increase from the £48 billion in July and were 14% higher than the previous year.

Graph showing funds under management since August 2005.

ISA sales 
Net ISA sales of £58 million in August were down 54% from July, the lowest sales in 11 months and were down 15% from August 2005. The most popular ISA sector in August was UK All Companies, accounting for 24% of gross ISA sales. 

Net sales by asset class 
Total net sales in August were £1.7 billion with equities accounting for inflows of £662 million. Of the £1 billion net retail sales, £558 million was invested in equities and property, followed by £247 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 in August was UK All Companies, representing 17% of gross retail sales. The sector was favoured by intermediaries and accounted for 16% of gross retail business through this channel.

The most popular distribution channel in August was the intermediary channel representing 84% of gross retail business. Gross ISA sales of £235 million from fund supermarkets made them the dominant distributor of ISAs, followed by sales of £182 million through sales force/tied agents.

Best selling sector 
For the eighth consecutive month the Specialist sector remained the most popular net retail sector with inflows of £418 million. Property funds in this sector accounted for 98% of the sector’s sales.  The sector with the biggest outflows  in August was UK All Companies with net outflows of £68 million.

Richard Saunders, Chief Executive of the IMA commented:

“August is traditionally the quietest month of the year for fund sales, so net retail sales of over £1 billion is an unusually strong performance.  Sales have now reached nearly £10 billion in the first eight months of 2006, the strongest performance since 2000. Despite last month’s inflow being the lowest for 11 months, ISA sales for 2006 of £2.2 billion have already surpassed those seen in 2004 and 2005.”

-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