Equities remain the best-selling asset for fifth month in a row, finds the Investment Association
Equities remained the best-selling asset type for the fifth month in a row, with net retail sales of £1.1bn in September 2015, figures from the Investment Association revealed today.
The September sales results for equities are up from August, when net retail sales for equities were £526m, significantly down from net retail sales in July of £2bn.
The September figures bring total net retail sales for equities to £3.6bn for the third quarter of 2015.
Guy Sears, interim chief executive at the Investment Association, said: “Net retail sales went back above the £1bn mark in September with investors directing the majority of their money into equity funds – UK equity in particular.
But he added: “Property and mixed assets still seems to be favoured if we look at the top five best-selling sectors.”
Meanwhile, Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Equities are really the only game in town for investors with bond yields at such low levels and the prospects of interest rate rises in the US and the UK hovering into view. Equity valuations in developed markets look reasonable, while in Asia and emerging markets they look cheap by historical standards, though sentiment in these areas remains negative.”
On Tuesday, investment platform Cofunds revealed similar figures, showing that UK equity income was the highest-selling sector for Q3 2015. Britt Holland-Ellice, head of commercial at Cofunds, said: “Whilst sales trends in August were clearly affected by market turbulence we appear to have fallen back into a more established pattern for September with advisers generally preferring funds with greater diversification and a broader spread of risk.”