For immediate release: Wednesday 28 October 2009

IMA ANNOUNCES RECORD YEAR FOR INVESTMENT SALES

Investment fund statistics - September 2009

The Investment Management Association (IMA) today releases its figures for the fund management industry for September 2009.

Key findings:

• Record net retail sales - the total for the first nine months of 2009 is more than the total achieved in the whole of 2000, the highest annual sales on record
• Equities took over from Bonds as the most popular asset class - with net retail sales of £1 billion
• Absolute Returns became the best selling IMA Sector - taking over from £ Corporate Bonds after ten months at the top

Richard Saunders, Chief Executive of the IMA, commented:     

"2009 is set to break the record for investment fund sales.  Total net retail sales for the year-to-date reached £18.7 billion in September.  This already surpasses the previous record for a full year, which was in 2000.  September is the sixth consecutive month in which net retail sales have topped £2 billion.

"Investors are showing an increasing interest in equity funds, after a period in which bonds have dominated.  The geographic spread is wide, with significant flows into funds investing other than in the UK." 

Sales

Net retail sales for September were £2.7 billion, 24% up on August (£2.2 billion).  Strong inflows have been recorded each month this year, with September being the sixth month in a row in which net retail sales topped £2 billion. 

Total net retail sales year-to-date reached £18.7 billion - ahead of the total achieved in the whole of 2000, which was the highest year for retail sales ever recorded.  (By the end of Quarter 3 2000, net retail sales stood at £14.3 billion, this year we are 31% ahead of this figure.) (See Table 3, and Chart 2)

Asset classes

Equity funds have taken over from Bonds as the most popular asset class in terms of net retail sales.  Net retail sales reached just under £1 billion (£995 million) for Equities in September, compared to £566 million for Bonds.  Quarter 3 saw total net Equity sales of £2.4 billion, compared to £2.1 billion for Bonds.  This is the first time since 2007 that the quarterly sales for Equities have beaten Bonds.  (Table 4)

Property funds had net retail sales totalling £261 million in September, more than double the £129 million achieved in August, and the highest since June 2007 (£307 million).  Property funds have had positive net retail sales for the six consecutive months now, the first time this has happened since 2007.  Property funds represented 10% of total net retail sales in September, up from 6% in August. 

Institutional sales showed a different pattern.  Total net retail sales were £987 million in September, with Bond funds the biggest asset class (£574 million), followed by Money Market funds with net sales of £117 million. 

IMA Sectors

The IMA UK Absolute Return sector was the highest selling sector, accounting for £442.4 million of net retail sales.  (Table 9)

The IMA £ Corporate Bond sector came second (£323.5 million), having topped the table for the previous ten consecutive months.  Third came Property with £261 million in September. 

As noted earlier Equities were the biggest selling asset class in September, with investors choosing from a wide range of Equity sectors, many of them non-UK sectors, such as Global Growth, Global Emerging Markets, Asia Pacific excluding Japan and North America. (For more details, see Table 8) 

ISAs

ISA sales totalled £162.3 million, the seventh consecutive month for positive net sales.  (This was 8% higher than the previous month and a contrast to September last year which saw net retail sales for ISAs of minus £250.9 million.) (Table 3)

The most popular fund choice for ISA investors in September in terms of gross retail sales was the IMA UK All Companies Sector (£88 million) (Table 8)

Distribution

Intermediaries continue to dominate retail sales, accounting for 87.4% of gross retail sales in September.  This figure has been over 80% for the last three years in contrast to the position ten years ago when intermediaries accounted for less than half the total.  (Table 5)

OVERSEAS FUNDS

Overseas funds under management totalled £21.2 billion in September.  (This is 5% higher than the £20.3 billion the total stood at in August.)  Total net retail sales were £249.8 million.  This is almost double the August figure (£150.9 million), and it is in sharp contrast to the minus £167.0 million recorded in September last year. (Table 6)