It was the worst possible start to the second quarter with Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs sending markets into meltdown. Thankfully, a form of sanity eventually prevailed (for now) and markets rebounded to new highs by the end of June. The S&P 500 regained its mojo posting a 10% gain while growth in the UK was more modest with the FTSE 100 and All Share up 2.1% and 3.2% respectively. Industry assets grew by an impressive 8.2% to a new record of £441bn. AJ Bell, interactive investor and InvestEngine were home to the strongest growth, demonstrating that a range of strategies can deliver in the D2C market.
D2C investors are proving they are increasingly resilient with solid evidence that many were buying at the post-Liberation Day dip. This helped push gross flows to a best performance of £19.6bn and boosted net to a second-best figure of £7.9bn.
interactive investor led net flows with £2.4bn, followed by AJ Bell on £1.9bn and Vanguard with £1.4bn. AJ Bell’s figure was boosted by a one-off repatriation of a Halifax book – without it, Vanguard would have been snapping at its heels, highlighting the fine margins in the race for assets.
Meanwhile, InvestEngine continues to punch above its weight for asset growth and retains its place on the top 5 net sales table, highlighting the benefits of its creative marketing strategy.
Top 5 platforms by gross and net sales animated chart: https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/24456291/
Gemma Maher, Head of Market Insights at Fundscape said, “Of course, Q2 straddles the tax-year-end and benefits from use-it-or-lose-it and early-bird ISA investors. We expect net sales to soften over summer and going into autumn. However, D2C investors have demonstrated their ability to navigate some of the behaviours of unpredictable politicians like Trump, maximising opportunities where they can.
We expect the D2C market to continue its growth trajectory as investors want greater access and opportunity with their savings and investments. Banks are starting to take a greater interest, and brand power will play a part in success as smaller players continue to struggle.”
