The Investment Management Association (IMA) has revealed retail investors made net investments of £29.5 billion during 2010.
 
The asset manager trade body said the high level of inflows was likely to be influenced by the lower interest rates on offer in recent years.
 
According to the IMA, net retail investment into funds represented 3 per cent of household disposable income.
 
It maintained that funds offered a more attractive income returns and the potential capital growth than are currently on offer by the bank and building society accounts.
 
Richard Saunders, chief executive of the IMA, said the asset management industry was at a ‘strategic crossroads’.
 
He said, ‘The growing need for individuals to take responsibility for their own retirement provision continues to create an attractive prospect for the industry.
 
Yet, Saunders warned a combination of difficult market conditions, regulatory changes and changing client preferences would create new challenges for the industry.
 
IMA members recorded strong inflows from retail customers into bond funds, for the second year running with £7.1 billion invested in fixed income securities in 2010. However, this was a slight full from 2009 levels of £10 billion.
 
The IMA also noted that investment in bond funds were concentrated in the Sterling Strategic Bond sector as corporate bond fund yields dropped.
 
Investment in multi-manager funds was particularly strong, with £6.8 billion invested in the funds, compared with just £3.8 billion in 2009.
 
The Cautious Managed sector was the most favoured sector, with just over £4 billion in inflows, followed by the Balanced Managed sector with approximately £1.9 billion in 2010.

Newly-launched funds were also popular with retail investors, attracting net sales of £2.6 billion.

Inflows into equity funds, though strong at £6.8 billion, dropped by £1 billion on the prior-year period, with flows ‘mainly’ into non-UK funds.
 
IMA members reported £6.8 billion of inflows into non-UK equity funds, compared with just £52 million in UK equity funds.
 
More widely, the asset management industry grew by £500 billion to £3.9 trillion at the end of 2010, compared with £3.4 trillion in 2009.

Retail clients accounted for the third largest client base, representing 21 per cent of UK-managed assets, compared with 34 per cent for pensions clients and 24 per cent for insurance companies.

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