Savers invested £4.4 billion into funds in a month of strong inflows, data published today by the Investment Association (IA) reveals. The other key findings for March include:
- Q1 2021 saw positive net retail inflows of £10 billion
- The IA’s Global sector was the best-selling sector of Q1 with £3.6 billion inflows
- Responsible investment funds saw a net retail inflow of £1.6 billion in March 2021, a new monthly record.
Chris Cummings, Chief Executive of the Investment Association, said:
“The beginning of Spring saw the thawing of investor sentiment towards UK companies following the successful rollout of the coronavirus vaccine and broader growth in business confidence. With confidence returning to the market, savers invested £217 million into smaller UK companies, but also put £472 million into funds in the UK All Companies sector, typically invested in medium to large companies listed on the FTSE– the first such inflow in six months.”
FUNDS UNDER MANAGEMENT AND NET SALES
| Funds Under Management | Net Retail Sales | Net Institutional Sales | |
| March 2021 | £1.5 trillion | £4.4 billion | -£1.3 billion |
| March 2020 | £1.1 trillion | -£9.7 billion | -£1.7 billion |
BEST SELLING INVESTMENT ASSOCIATION SECTORS
The five best-selling Investment Association sectors for March 2021 were:
- Global was first with net retail sales of £1.6 billion.
- Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares was second with net retail sales of £1 billion.
- Volatility Managed followed with net retail sales of £483 million.
- UK All Companies was fourth with net retail sales of £472 million.
- Global Emerging Markets was fifth with net retail sales of £298 million.
The worst-selling Investment Association sector in March 2021 was £ Corporate Bonds with an outflow of £1.5 billion.
NET RETAIL SALES BY ASSET CLASS
Mixed Asset funds were the best-selling asset class in March 2021 with £1.9 billion in net retail sales.
Equity was the second best-selling asset class, with £1.1 billion of inflows.
Fixed Income funds experienced £1 billion of inflows.
Other funds (which includes the Targeted Absolute Return, Volatility Managed, and Unclassified sectors) experienced £814 million of net retail sales.
Property funds however experienced £155 million in net retail outflows.
Money Market funds also experienced net retail outflows in March of £317 million.
NET RETAIL SALES OF EQUITY FUNDS BY REGION*
Global was the best-selling equity fund region in March 2021, with net retail sales of £1.8 billion.
UK funds were second, seeing net retail inflows of £114 million.
All other regions saw outflows, with Japan funds experiencing net retail outflows of £86 million.
Asia funds experienced net retail outflows of £99 million.
Europe funds saw net retail outflows of £421 million.
North America funds saw net retail outflows of £1 billion.
TRACKER FUNDS
Tracker funds saw a net retail inflow of £626 million in March 2021. Tracker funds under management stood at £259 billion as of the end of March. Their overall share of industry funds under management was 17.7%.
RESPONSIBLE INVESTMENT FUNDS
Responsible investment funds saw a net retail inflow of £1.6 billion in March 2021. Responsible investment funds under management stood at £66 billion as of the end of March. Their overall share of industry funds under management was 4.5%.
GROSS RETAIL SALES BY DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL
In March, gross retail sales for UK fund platforms totalled £19 billion, representing a market share of 47.9%.
Gross retail sales through Other UK Intermediaries including IFAs were £9 billion, representing a market share of 23.2%.
Direct gross retail sales in March were £2.3 billion, representing a market share of 5.7%.
