At a headline level, funds under management hit a record £871bn ($1.24trn, €1.15trn) as a result of £17.6bn in net retail sales, the association said. But, while all asset classes barring fixed income saw inflows, the rate of growth was down everywhere except money market funds and those classified as ‘other’ – the funds that sit in the unclassified and absolute return sectors.
Equity was once again the best-selling asset class with net retail sales of £8.4bn, but this was less than the £8.7bn that flowed into equities in 2014.
A similar story was evident across the second and third-largest asset classes, Property funds saw net retail sales of £2.7bn, down from £3.8bn, while mixed asset funds reported sales of £2.5bn, £1.5bn less than it saw in 2014.
Money market funds, by comparison reported their highest sales on record, as net sales soared almost ten-fold from £63m in 2014 to £591m in 2015.
Passive funds also broke records, as net sales of £5.4bn saw assets under management hit an all-time high of £108bn.
Fixed income funds, on the other hand, recorded a record net retail outflow of £519m in 2015, compared to a net retail inflow of £1.5 billion in 2014.
