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For immediate release: Tuesday 28 November 2006


INVESTMENT FUND STATISTICS
October 2006

Summary  

  • Investment funds under management £398 billion (October 2005 £318 billion)
  • Total net industry sales £1.4 billion (October 2005 £1.2 billion)
  • Net retail sales £1.6 billion (October 2005 £637 million)
  • Net ISA sales £83 million (October 2005 £88 million)

Funds under management 

Investment funds under management of £398 billion in October saw a rise of 3% from September and were 25% higher than October 2005. ISA funds under management reached a high of £50 billion in October, rising 2% from the previous month and 18% on the previous year.

Graph showing funds under management since October 2005.

ISA sales 
Net ISA sales of £83 million in October were 71% higher than September but were down 5% from October 2005. The most popular
ISA sector  in October was UK All Companies, accounting for 23% of gross ISA sales.

Net sales by asset class 
Total net sales were £1.4 billion with equities accounting for inflows of £937 million. Of the £1.6 billion net retail sales £1.1 billion was invested in equities, of which £379 million was via property funds, followed by £254 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 October was UK All Companies, representing 23% of gross retail sales. The sector was favoured by intermediaries and accounted for 23% of gross retail business through this channel.

The most popular distribution channel in October was the intermediary channel representing 87% of gross retail business. Gross ISA sales of £277 million from fund supermarkets made them the dominant distributor of ISAs, followed by £189 million through sales force/tied agents.

Best selling sector  
The Specialist sector remained the most popular net retail sector in October with inflows of £519 million, of which £379 million was invested in the property funds in this sector. The sector with the biggest outflows  in October was the Global Growth sector with net outflows of £136 million.

Richard Saunders, Chief Executive of the IMA commented:

"For the second consecutive month net retail sales into investment funds have seen record monthly highs, with over £1.6 billion setting a new high for October inflows.  This was more than £1 billion higher than the same month in 2005. Business through intermediaries also saw record inflows, accounting for 86% of gross retail business.  All in all, we believe this reflects the growing importance in the market of fund supermarkets and other platforms."         

-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

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