Pridham Report: Fund sales surge in June 'despite Woodford scandal'
Best month for net sales in Q2
June was the best month for net sales of retail funds in the second quarter "despite the Woodford scandal", the latest Pridham Report has revealed.
The report attributed inflows to the beginning of the new tax year and "political uncertainty [becoming] the new certainty".
"Advisers clearly decided they could not stay on the sidelines forever and got back to buying funds for their clients, albeit favouring cautious options, notably fixed income and mixed asset funds," the report said.
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However, editor of The Pridham Report Helen Pridham warned the third quarter is likely to present fund managers with more challenges following the gating of the Woodford Equity Income fund and the subsequent fallout.
"Managers now have to demonstrate not only good performance but also that they have strong investment processes and risk controls in place to avoid a repetition of the Woodford scandal," she said.
Fidelity made it into the top ten for net retail sales in Q2 with inflows of £347.5m across both its passive and active ranges, and was among seven companies that reported the top gross retail sales as well as appearing in the top ten for net retail sales in the second quarter.
In terms of gross sales, Fidelity saw £2.8bn of inflows maintaining its third place, having derived around a third of its sales from passives in the second quarter, while also selling the most actively managed funds during the period on the back of popular funds such as Fidelity Emerging Markets, Fidelity Asia Pacific Opportunities and Fidelity Global Dividend, the report said.
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The top two positions for gross sales also remained the same, with BlackRock attracting the highest gross sales in the second quarter, largely due to sales of passive funds, and Legal & General Investment Management in second place, where sales of trackers also accounted for over half of new business.
Meanwhile, Vanguard was accused of drawing "a veil of secrecy over its business flows" for not providing The Pridham Report with its sales figures.
On the net sales side, Royal London Asset Management (RLAM) sold the most actively managed funds, including the fixed income, equity and mixed funds such as Royal London UK Equity Income and Royal London Sustainable Diversified.
Royal London Cash Plus, which invests in money market instruments and short-dated bonds, was one of the firm's best-sellers.
