Net fund sales plummeted £41.3bn to £7.2bn in 2018 on the back of a "perfect storm of uncertainty", according to the latest figures from the Investment Association (IA).
Following a bumper 2017, which saw net retail sales of £48.5bn and "unprecedented" record monthly net sales, inflows were reduced in 2018 as Brexit, US-China trade tensions, the declining Turkish Lira and the Italian budget crisis weighed on investor confidence. This was topped off with "significant" monthly outflows in the last quarter, the trade body said. As such, the fund market ended 2018 with £1.15trn in funds under management, down from £1.23trn in 2017, a contraction of 6.6%. The Q4 outflows were mainly driven by investors selling out of fixed income funds ahead of quantitativ...
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