BlackRock knocks M&G from top of sales chart

BlackRock knocked M&G from the top selling slot in the first quarter, according to the latest Pridham report.

The company recorded gross retail inflows of £2.3bn, the best sales figure for the quarter, and when redemptions were taken into account the group’s net retail inflows were the fifth best in the industry.

Pridham report author Helen Pridham said BlackRock saw particularly strong interest in the £1.7bn UK Special Situations fund, run by Richard Plackett, and the £1.7bn European Dynamic fund, run by Alister Hibbert.

M&G, the UK’s second biggest asset manager, slipped to second in the gross inflows table and did not appear in the top 10 when ranked by net inflows.

IMA figures released earlier this month showed the first quarter of 2013 was the worst for net sales of funds to the retail market in five years.

Ms Pridham said: “Austerity and the squeeze on family budgets is clearly not helping matters but the RDR is undoubtedly a contributory factor to the decline in mass market investment, reflected by the lower levels of Isa investment.”

Elsewhere, Standard Life Investments topped the net inflows charts with £917m of new money. Half its inflows went into its Global Absolute Return Strategies fund.

Cazenove Capital - which is set to be bought by Schroders this summer - had its best quarter ever, the Pridham report said, with £498m of net inflows. Julie Dean’s Cazenove UK Opportunities fund and Marcus Brookes’ Cazenove Multi Manager Diversity fund were highlighted as attracting the majority of new flows.

Multi-asset boutique Seven Investment Management also saw strong inflows in the first quarter, bringing in £115.6m.