Total purchases of investment companies in the first nine months of 2013 reached £241m, a 66% increase compared to the same period in 2012 when purchases were at £145.5m. Purchases of investment companies by advisers in Q3 2013 reached a record high of £83.3m, more than double the figure for Q3 2012 of £40.8m. Six platforms provided the data on investment company purchases, namely Transact, Nucleus, Ascentric, Raymond James Investment Services, Elevate and Novia.
Ian Sayers, Director General of the Association of Investment Companies said:
“It’s early days but RDR appears to be having an impact on the industry. It’s really positive that we’ve seen such a significant increase in adviser platform purchases of investment companies this year, albeit from a low base. The AIC have trained over 1,400 advisers in 2013, a considerable rise in comparison to just over 800 last year. We’re well aware there’s a lot more to do and are currently putting together next year’s training programme, starting with sessions on VCTs in January.”
