Press Release
Monday 11 February 2013
TRACKER FUNDS HIT RECORD SHARE OF TOTAL FUNDS UNDER MANAGEMENT
The Investment Management Association (IMA) today publishes its figures for Funds of Funds, Tracker and Ethical funds for the whole of 2012:
- Tracker funds’ overall share of total funds under management was highest on record at 8.7%
- Funds of funds continue to have record breaking funds under management and market share at 10.8%
- Ethical funds reach lowest levels in net retail sales since 1992
Daniel Godfrey, IMA Chief Executive, said:
“Funds under management reached record levels for funds of funds, tracker funds and ethical funds at the end of 2012.
“Tracker funds had a third strong year of retail sales in succession, helping increase their share of total funds under management to the highest ever level. Funds of funds also increased their market share. Ethical fund sales however, were the worst in net retail sale terms since the IMA began collecting data 20 years ago.”
| FUNDS UNDER MANAGEMENT | 2012 | 2011 |
| Funds of funds | £71.2 billion | £60.3 billion |
| Tracker funds | £57.4 billion | £42.3 billion |
| Ethical funds | £7.50 billion | £6.68 billion |
| All funds | £658 billion | £576 billion |
| RETAIL SALES (NET) |
2012 | 2011 | Q4 2012 | Q4 2011 |
| Funds of funds | £3.4 billion | £5.2 billion | £1.1 billion | £0.6 billion |
| Tracker funds | £1.5 billion | £2.1 billion | £0.3 billion | £0.4 billion |
| Ethical funds | £0.02 billion | £0.2 billion | £0.03 billion | -£0.03 billion |
| All funds | £13.7 billion | £18.1 billion | £3.4 billion | £1.7 billion |
Funds of Funds
Funds under management for Funds of Funds reached their highest levels on record at the end of 2012, totalling £71.2 billion and accounting for 10.8% of total funds under management, the highest market share on record.
Of the £71.2 billion, 51% (£36.1 billion) was invested in funds run by the same firm and 49% (£35.0 billion) was invested with different asset management firms.
Net retail sales dropped to £3.4 billion in 2012 from £5.2 billion in 2011. On a gross retail sales basis, 10.5p in every £1 that was invested in funds went into Funds of Funds in 2012.
In 2012 the top three selling sectors (excluding Unclassified) for Funds of Funds in terms of retail sales were:
- Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares – £1.5 billion
- Specialist – £1.1 billion
- Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares – £298 million
Looking at asset classes, Mixed Asset accounted for the highest proportion (57%) of total funds under management in 2012. This is in line with a slow decline over the last 10 years, from 71% in 2003.
Tracker Funds
Net retail sales of Tracker Funds were £1.5 billion in 2012, down from the record of £2.1 billion in 2011 but still the third highest annual sales ever recorded.
Funds under management for tracker funds reached £57.4 billion at the end of 2012, the highest on record. Their overall share of total funds under management was also the highest on record at 8.7%, compared with 7.4% in 2011.
The number of reported tracker funds at the end of 2012 remained at 88 from the last year.
Ethical Funds
Net retail sales of Ethical funds dropped from £199 million in 2011 to £21 million in 2012 – the lowest since records began in 1992 and well below the levels of recent years.
Nevertheless ethical funds under management totalled a record £7.5 billion at the end of 2012. Their share of total funds under management was 1.1%.
There were 50 ethical funds reported at the end of 2012, the same as last year.
-ENDS-
For further information, please contact:
Navdeep Sidhu, Press Officer, IMA - 020 7831 0898 or 07843 517618 – press@investmentuk.org
Christina Bridge, Press Assistant, IMA – 020 7831 0898 – press@investmentuk.org
The IMA's press releases and statistical information can all be found at www.investmentuk.org
Notes for Editors
The IMA first began to track and publish statistics on Funds of Funds, Ethical and Tracker funds in 1992.
For more details on the figures given in the press release, please see the tables on the links below.
1. Summary
2. Fund of Funds - funds under management by asset type
3. Fund of Funds - sales
4. Fund of Funds - sales by asset type
5. Tracker and Ethical funds - funds under management and sales
Note: Gross retail sales are new sales or switches recorded. Repurchases are when investors sell their investments. Net retail sales comprise total sales minus repurchases.
Variations in figures
Each month small revisions to the figures may have been made since previous press releases. This reflects additional information received by the IMA.
About the Investment Management Association:
- The IMA is the trade body for asset managers (retail and institutional) who manage £4.2 trillion of assets in the UK as at December 2011.
- Our role is to support and promote a commercially successful and growing UK investment management industry as we seek to improve financial outcomes for customers – savers and investors.
- The money our members manage is in a wide variety of investment vehicles including authorised investment funds, pension funds and stocks and shares ISAs.
- The UK is the second largest investment management centre in the world, after the US.
- The IMA has recently launched a consumer website providing comprehensive information on investment funds.