Retail investors show pessimism on funds

Retail investors showed considerable pessimism about investment funds in July according to the latest monthly sales statistics from the Association of Unit Trusts and Investment Funds (AUTIF).

Morningstar.co.uk Editors 28 August, 2001 | 3:53PM
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn
Although there is always a seasonal lull in sales at this time of year the sale figures were bad compared with last summer. Gross retail sales fell to £2.3bn in July 2001 compared with £2.7bn in July 2000. Over the same period, gross sales of Isas fell to £564m compared with £703m.

Those retail investors who did invest in funds tended to favour the UK. Some 30% of all retail sales were in the UK All Companies sector compared with 25% in July last year.

Two other UK sectors were among the four most popular as measured by retail net sales: UK Other Bond at second and UK Corporate Bond at fourth. The North American Sector filled the

gap at third.

The least popular sector by the same criterion was Japan followed by Global Bonds and Far East Excluding Japan. Bucking the trend for retail investors to prefer investing at home, the UK Equity & Bond Income sector was fourth from bottom of the popularity list.

Positive news

However, there was some positive news for the fund management industry. Institutional investors – such as pension funds - were more upbeat than their retail peers with gross sales of £2.3bn in July 2001 compared with £1.8bn in July 2000.

As is often the case there was a substantial discrepancy in how institutional investors viewed particular sectors compared with retail investors. For example, the Japanese Smaller Companies sector was the fifth most popular in terms of institutional sales and Japan was the eighth most popular. The three least popular sectors all invested in smaller companies: European Smaller Companies, North American Smaller Companies and UK Smaller Companies.

The information contained within is for educational and informational purposes ONLY. It is not intended nor should it be considered an invitation or inducement to buy or sell a security or securities noted within nor should it be viewed as a communication intended to persuade or incite you to buy or sell security or securities noted within. Any commentary provided is the opinion of the author and should not be considered a personalised recommendation. The information contained within should not be a person's sole basis for making an investment decision. Please contact your financial professional before making an investment decision.

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn

About Author

Morningstar.co.uk Editors  analyse and report on shares, funds, market developments and good investing practice for individual investors and their advisers in the UK.

© Copyright 2024 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved.

Terms of Use        Privacy Policy        Modern Slavery Statement        Cookie Settings        Disclosures