Fund sales double during 2012
RETAIL fund sales figures ballooned to over £8bn for the six months ending in June – almost double the levels recorded for the second half of last year, statistics from the Investment Management Association show.
Data released on Friday shows net retail sales were £8.1bn between January and June this year, up from £4.4bn between July and December 2011.
However, this was below the £13.7bn of sales for the first six months of last year.
IMA chief executive Richard Saunders said sales had “steadied” to about a billion a month so far this year after a “very strong performance” from 2009 to the first half of 2011.
The surge over the first half of the year fizzled out in June as sales dipped to £820m, compared to £1.2bn for the same time last year.
ISA sales in June also mirrored the drop off in overall fund sales, slumping to £84m down from £260m in the year previously.
Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Laith Khalaf said: “There is a major reason why sales in the first half of the year are bigger and that’s the ISA season – the tax deadline means most people do ISAs in March or April.
“The first half of the year for financial services is the busiest part of the year.”
Funds under management also dropped year on year, sliding from £604bn to settle at £598bn, with fixed income remaining the best selling asset class.