The statistics, published today, look at figures for Funds of Funds, Ethical funds and Tracker funds for Quarter 1 2012.
Jane Lowe, Director of Markets at the IMA, said:
"Net retail sales for tracker funds reached a record of £661 million in Q1 2012. This is the highest level we have seen since IMA's analysis of such figures began in 1992. Funds under management in funds of funds grew, reaching £64.2 billion at the end of the first quarter this year and accounting for 10.5% of total funds under management.
"Ethical funds in Q1 of 2012 saw a modest inflow of sales, following an outflow in the previous quarter."
FUNDS OF FUNDS
Funds under management for Fund of Funds grew to £64.2 billion at the end of Quarter 1 2012, accounting for 10.5% of total funds under management. Net retail sales for Funds of Funds in Quarter 1 2012 totalled £396 million which is the lowest level since Q4 2008 and well below the average for the previous four quarters of £1.3 billion.
In Quarter 1 2012, just over half (51%) of Funds of Funds money was invested in funds run by other (external) firms. The total invested in external Funds of Funds at the end of March 2012 was £32.5 billion.
Looking at asset classes for Quarter 1 2012, mixed assets had the highest share of funds under management for Funds of Funds. The Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares and Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares sectors account for 81% of this.
TRACKER FUNDS
In Quarter 1 2012, net retail sales of Tracker funds reached their highest level ever, totalling
£661 million. Tracker funds under management were £43.3 billion at the end of March 2012, accounting for 7.1% of total funds under management. This is slightly higher than recent quarters.
Tracker funds' share of total gross retail sales was 5.6% in Quarter 1 2012 which again is slightly higher than recent quarters.
Of the 81 Tracker funds, 39 (48%) track the main UK indices, mainly the FTSE 100 and FTSE All Share indices. The remainder track a wide spread of other equity indices, including European, Global, Asia Pacific and the US.
ETHICAL FUNDS
In Quarter 1 2012, net retail sales of Ethical funds totalled £26 million, following an outflow in the previous quarter. This is still well below the quarterly average of £50 million for the previous four quarters.
Ethical funds under management totalled £7.2 billion at the end of March 2012. They continue to account for 1.2% of total funds under management.
