Net retail sales of open-ended funds plummeted in January to £320m from £1.7bn in December of last year, according to figures from the Investment Association.
Fund sales last month were down 72 per cent from the £1.25bn recorded in the same month last year as volatile markets made investors nervous to put their money to work.
Daniel Godfrey, the chief executive of the Investment Association, said: “Net retail sales in January were markedly below 2014’s monthly average.”
Jason Hollands, managing director of Tilney BestInvest said: “With major developed stock market indices reaching record levels and the FTSE 100 this week surpassing the peak previously seen at the height of the dot com bubble in 1999, investors appear to be nervous about putting new cash into the markets.”
However, investors remained keen on property funds, putting £235m into funds in the IA Property sector to make it the best-selling asset class in January.
In terms of equity fund sales, investors far and away preferred global equity funds, with the region recording easily the best net sales of £334m, leaving European equity funds trailing behind in second with sales of £95m.
