29th March 2016

February volatility sees investors take flight to safety, FundsNetwork reveals

• UK Money Market and Short Term Money Market sectors sees significant demand
• But UK Equity Income retains top spot

UK Equity Income continued its ongoing run as the most popular sector, however, it was the money market sectors that saw the biggest uplifts in sales in February, according to the latest FundsNetwork^TM  data.

While the appetite for income showed no signs of abating, the volatility that continued into early February saw investors maintain a cautious stance. This was evidenced by significant flows into the UK Money Market and Short Term Money Market sectors which ended up as the third and sixth bestselling sectors for the month. Fixed income assets also proved popular in February, further underlining the cautious sentiment of investors.

In the overall bestselling funds table, income yielding funds once again demonstrated their ongoing popularity, with Woodford Equity Income Fund retaining its place at the top of the table. However, the Fundsmith Equity Fund, which has performed particularly strongly amidst the recent volatility, proved to be very popular amongst investors in February, resulting in Terry Smith’s fund jumping all the way to second place in the league tables.

In the FundsNetwork Pension, the market turbulence had less of an impact on the funds being selected, most likely due to less of a focus on tactical asset allocation. This resulted in a diverse range of funds being featured in the sales table. Interestingly, passive funds continued to do well in the pension with Fidelity UK Index Fund and Fidelity US Index Fund featuring in the bestsellers list.

Danny Wynn, Head of Fund Partners for Fidelity International, comments: “As the volatility that took hold of January continued to spill over into February, investors, especially those looking to make the most of the ISA annual allowance, understandably looked to safe havens to temporarily park their cash. This was evident by the strong sales into the money market sectors.

“However, what was somewhat surprising to see was that the more adventurous Mixed Investments 40-85% Shares sector came out as the second bestselling sector. One possible reason for this is that, despite recent volatility, those choosing mixed asset funds have a more bullish long term view on equities. It will therefore be interesting to see if this becomes a longer term theme.”

Top 10 adviser sales by sector via FundsNetwork

Top 10 adviser sales by fund via FundsNetwork

Pension bestsellers through FundsNetwork

ISA bestsellers through FundsNetwork

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