Sales on the up at Standard Life Investments

Leading fund manger, Standard Life Investments has seen its retail investors invest £588m gross (£223m net) in its range of mutual funds during the first quarter of 2010, an average of £9.18m gross (£3.48m net) for every working day between 1st January and 31st March 2010.

The result represents a 53% increase in gross funds invested in comparison to the same period last year (21% increase on net sales) and reveals growing investor appetite for absolute return solutions.

The five top selling funds (gross) to date in 2010 are the Global Absolute Return Strategies (GARS), Global Index Linked Bond, UK Equity High Income, UK Smaller Companies and Select Property funds. The five top selling funds for the same period last year (gross) were GARS, Corporate Bond, AAA Income, UK Equity High Income and Global Index Linked Bond funds.

Jacqueline Kerr, Head of UK Wholesale, Standard Life Investments, said: "Our first quarter mutual fund sales figures, which show levels of gross sales similar to those experienced in 2007, provide a strong indication that investor confidence is returning to the market. Our new set of top selling funds also indicates that where investors preferred the safe haven of fixed income funds in Q1 2009, they are now turning towards absolute return or equity based investment solutions. Fantastic momentum has, for example, built around our £3bn (as at 31/03/10) GARS Fund, which indicates that investors are eager to benefit from returns similar to those generated by investing in traditional equity markets over the long term, but with considerably less risk attached.

"During the first quarter of 2010, the performance of our UK equity mutual fund range has been particularly strong with six out of our nine UK equity OEICs returning top quartile performance - three of them being top decile performers.

"It is really encouraging to see that such a high proportion of our sales continue to be through IFAs, which is further proof of their continued support for the company and their confidence in our products. I am confident that the range and performance of our OEIC funds will continue to attract investors throughout the year."

The strength of Standard Life Investments' investment process across its range of OEICs is further demonstrated by the fact that 21 out of 30 eligible and actively managed funds are rated ‘A' or above by Standard & Poor's.