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For immediate release: Monday 30 October 2006

INVESTMENT FUND STATISTICS
September 2006

Summary  

• Investment funds under management £386 billion (September 2005 £325 billion)
• Total net industry sales £2.5 billion (September 2005 £1.3 billion)
• Net retail sales £1.5 billion (September 2005 £809 million)
• Net ISA sales £49 million (September 2005 £47 million)

Funds under management 
Investment funds under management of £386 billion in September saw a rise of 2% from August and were 19% higher than September 2005. ISA funds under management of £49 billion rose 2% from the previous month, and were 13% higher than the previous year.

Graph showing funds under management since September 2005.

ISA sales 
Net ISA sales of £49 million in September were 11% lower than August but were up 4% from September 2005.  The most popular ISA sector in September was UK All Companies, accounting for 26% of gross ISA sales. 

Net sales by asset class 
Total net sales in September were £2.5 billion with equities accounting for inflows of £1.5 billion of which property funds saw inflows of £381 million. Of the £1.5 billion net retail sales £999 million was invested in equities of which £272 million was invested in property, followed by £231 million in bonds.

Graph showing net retail sales over the last 13 months.

Gross retail sales by sector and distribution channel 
September's most popular sector was UK All Companies, representing 19% of gross retail sales. The sector was favoured by intermediaries and accounted for 80% of gross retail business through this channel.

The most popular distribution channel in September was the intermediary channel representing 85% of gross retail business. Gross ISA sales of £183 million from sales force/tied agents made them the dominant distributor of ISAs, followed by £170 million through fund supermarkets.

Best selling sector  The Specialist sector remained the most popular net retail sector with inflows of £364 million of which £272 million was through the property funds within this sector.  The sector with the biggest outflows in September was the UK Smaller Companies with net outflows of £24 million.

Richard Saunders, Chief Executive of the IMA commented:

"Despite muted ISA sales, demand for funds from retail investors continues to be strong. 2006 was the best September on record for net retail sales, and the third quarter of the year was the best since 2000. Property funds continued to be popular with net retail inflows for 2006 to date reaching £2.4 billion, or 21 per cent of all sales."

-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