The latest edition of the Pridham Report revealed an improvement in net retail sales in Q4 2024. Gains were broad with nearly six in 10 (56 percent) U.K. fund groups reporting improved onshore net sales in Q4 as volatile retail money returned to the market.
This is an increase of 20 percentage points on the previous quarter, highlighting how changeable investor confidence remains in the current environment.
The Pridham Report, by ISS Market Intelligence (ISS MI), monitors sales and asset trends in the U.K. fund market using data supplied by over 45 of the largest fund groups operating in the U.K. It is the most comprehensive report of its kind.
Benjamin Reed-Hurwitz, EMEA Research leader at ISS MI, says: “Overall 2024 was a much better year for fund groups. While sales bounced back in Q4 from Q3’s annual low, significant outflows in September and October make it clear that investor sentiment is still fragile. The end of Q4 resurgence was driven by investors being able to move beyond U.K. budget uncertainty and investors looking to profit from soaring markets following the U.S. election.
“Whether that can continue in Q1 2025 is hard to tell. Savings account rates remain attractive for many investors and markets have become twitchy in recent weeks. On and off again U.S. trade wars with Canada, Mexico and China are denting confidence and the emergence of DeepSeek forced investors to reassess their bets on AI stocks. Will investors judge the risk/return equation to be attractive enough to justify moving out of cash?”
Passive funds dominated fund sales once again in Q4, with passive fixed income recording the largest quarter-on-quarter gross sales growth by asset class, at over 25 percent.
However, active equity recorded the second-fastest sales growth by asset class, soaring 20 percent quarter-on-quarter.
Reed-Hurwitz added: “Passive funds continued a long-running trend and once again dominated the sales charts in Q4. While the growth of passive equity is well documented, the fastest-growing fund type in Q4 was passive fixed income. Investors
and advisers are continually evaluating the cost of alpha and this has moved with speed to the fixed income portion of the portfolio. Investors are currently showing strong appetite for a low-cost way to tap into the higher yields currently on offer, especially now that inflation has come down.
“Active management is not going anywhere. The active opportunity in 2024 was in fact quite improved from 2023 with gross sales growing considerable. A lot of active money continues to be put in motion as investors consider where active is best-positioned to drive risk-adjusted returns. High alpha generation is increasingly top of mind, with a growing number of investors increasingly opting for more targeted, nuanced approaches to generating gains that potentially complement other passive positions held.”
On a fund group level, BlackRock and Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) led the onshore net retail sales table in Q4, reporting net sales of £2.04bn and £1.93bn, respectively.
As for LGIM, Q4 was a record quarter for onshore retail, with the firm reporting rising sales across both passive and active funds, and across all long-term asset classes.
Artemis also had a record quarter for both gross and net sales in Q4. Artemis’ Q4 was in fact the best quarterly performance by an active manager in all of 2024. Its U.K. Select strategy did particularly well.
Hargreaves Lansdown was notable for being in the top 10 of net sales in all four quarters of 2024, leveraging its widely used platform to drive consistent results. Vanguard, BlackRock and HSBC Asset Management were the other firms to accomplish this feat.
Orbis Investments maintained its top 10 position in the net sales charts in Q4 and continues to gain ground in the mixed-asset arena with its unique performance-based fee offering.
Man GLG returned to the top 10 on retail net sales in Q4 after reporting strong active fixed income sales.
| Rank | Fund group | Gross sales £m |
| 1 | BlackRock | £9,066.4 |
| 2 | Vanguard | £7,609.6 |
| 3 | Legal & General Investment Management | £6,981.4 |
| 4 | Fidelity | £5,563.0 |
| 5 | HSBC Asset Management | £4,406.4 |
| 6 | Royal London Asset Management | £3,149.0 |
| 7 | Artemis | £2,712.1 |
| 8 | JPMorgan Asset Management | £1,593.8 |
| 9 | Schroders | £1,546.6 |
| 10 | M&G | £1,391.9 |
| Rank | Fund group | Net sales £m |
| 1 | BlackRock | £2,044.1 |
| 2 | Legal & General Investment Management | £1,938.5 |
| 3 | Vanguard | £1,284.5 |
| 4 | Artemis | £1,206.0 |
| 5 | HSBC Asset Management | £1,080.9 |
| 6 | Fidelity | £622.2 |
| 7 | Hargreaves Lansdown | £284.0 |
| 8 | Scottish Widows | £179.4 |
| 9 | Orbis Investments | £137.1 |
| 10 | Man GLG | £117.0 |
Reed-Hurwitz concluded: “It’s encouraging to see so many fund groups ended the year well, although sales remain volatile. Given the level of uncertainty in the global economy, investors are understandably cautious. Therefore, it’s too early to predict the start of a boom, but the signs are nonetheless positive as we approach the halfway point in Q1.”
For more information and to access the full report, visit https://page.issmarketintelligence.com/mi-uk-pridham-report
