Net retail sales were negative in October, with £1.6bn of outflows from UK authorised and recognised funds, compared to inflows of £5.3bn in 2017, according to research by the Investment Association.
The IA also found that funds under management weighed in at £1.2trn in October, no difference from 12 months earlier.
Asset classes
Mixed asset was the best-selling asset class with £443m in net retail sales in October.
Money market (£215m) and equity (£100m) made up the top three best-selling asset classes in net retail sales.
Property reported a net retail outflow of £39m, followed by funds classified as other (which includes the Targeted Absolute Return and Volatility Managed), which experienced outflows of £735m.
Fixed income experienced outflows of £1.6bn in net retail sales.
Chris Cummings, chief executive of the Investment Association, said: “Savers are stepping back from bonds with notable outflows from fixed income funds in October.
“With the era of quantitative easing anticipated to end in both the US and Europe, fixed income funds have seen their appeal dented.
“This declining appetite for bonds has contributed to UK funds experiencing their largest net retail outflow since the EU referendum, although it remains to be seen whether this is the start of a broader trend within fixed income.”
Retail distribution
In October, gross retail sales for UK fund platforms totalled £9.6bn, representing a market share of 46.2% (39.7% in October 2017).
Other intermediaries including UK IFAs made gross retail sales of £5.2bn, representing a market share of 25.1% (27.3% in October 2017).
Direct gross retail sales in September were £1.5bn, representing a market share of 7.1% (6.9% in October 2017).
Regional sales
North America funds were the best-selling in October with net retail sales of £122m.
Asia funds (£113m) and Japanese funds (100m) made up the top three regional net retail sales in October 2018.
Global and Europe funds experienced net retail inflows of £50m and £7m, respectively. UK funds logged net retail outflows of £214m.
