M&G knocks Invesco off top AUM spot
M&G Investments has recorded its highest gross retail sales on record, according to Fundscape’s Pridham report.
The group saw sales break through the £3bn mark for the first time making it the largest company by assets under management.
Helen Pridham, director of Fundscape, said “As a result of its ongoing popularity with investors and advisers alike, its assets under management rose to £41bn, making it the largest company by assets and knocking Invesco Perpetual off its long-held perch.”
The report said BlackRock also enjoyed an uplift in both gross and net retail sales. It was number two for gross sales, but was leapfrogged by Standard Life Investments (SLI), BNY Mellon and Threadneedle in the net retail sales rankings.
Sales of SLI’s Global Absolute Return Strategies fund rose sharply in Q1 returning to Q1/Q2 2011 levels, after dipping in the second half of 2011.
Meanwhile, Threadneedle’s Emerging Market Bond fund and BNY Mellon’s Newton Real Return fund continued to strike a chord with advisers.
After an absence of more than two years, Cazenove returned to the top ten for net retail sales thanks mainly to its Multi-Manager Diversity fund.
Ms Pridham said many fund managers experienced a rise in gross and net retail sales relative to the previous quarter and against the first quarter of 2011.
However, she said inflows tended to be concentrated into fewer funds highlighting the fact investors remain nervous about the market.
“It was a reasonable start to 2012, but with stockmarkets becoming more volatile again and the ISA season ending in Q2, maintaining this positive trend will be difficult,” Ms Pridham said.
“The rest of the year is likely to disappoint, although with RDR coming up, multi-asset managers may buck the trend.”