PropertyJul 1 2014

Property leads way with retail sales of £491m

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The property sector saw the highest net retail sales since December 2009 at £491m in May, the Investment Management Association has revealed.

In December 2009, the property sector’s net retail sales hit £519m, the IMA said.

Equity remained the highest selling asset class with net retail sales of £558m.

Global equity funds were the best-selling region in May 2014 with net retail sales of £390m.

Daniel Godfrey, chief executive of the IMA, said: “After the rush of the Isa season in March and April, net retail sales held up well at £1.9bn in May, with investors spreading their investments across all the main asset classes.

“Equities continued to lead the way with UK equity income and global in the top five top-selling IMA sectors. But property also received a big slice of investors’ funds and topped the IMA sector table for the first time since January 2010.”

The worst-selling IMA sector for May 2014 was North American Smaller Companies with a net retail outflow of £96m. This is the first time the sector has been the worst-selling, based on net retail sales, since April 1997, the IMA said.

In May 2014, UK fund platforms continued to see the highest gross retail sales at £6.6bn, representing a 54 per cent market share, up from 49 per cent in May 2013.

Gross retail sales for other intermediaries, including wealth managers, stockbrokers and IFAs, totalled £4.8bn in May 2014, a market share of 39 per cent, down from 42 per cent in May 2013.

Direct gross retail sales in May 2014 were £866m, representing a market share of 7.1 per cent, down from 8.7 per cent in May 2013.