Retail sales rebound to £2bn

Net retail sales once again exceeded £2bn in June having suffered a fall the previous month, according to the IMA.

The £2.1bn taken was broadly in line with the average for the last 12 months, after May's dip to £963m.

For the first half of 2010, net retail sales are the second best on record at £10.8bn, only slightly down on the record levels experienced in the first half of last year.

Sales have now been above £2bn for 12 out of the last 15 months. Last year was a record year, with £25.8bn in net retail sales, compared with a low of £3.8bn in 2008.

Meanwhile, continued stock market volatility impacted funds under management which stood at £488.2bn at the end of June 2010, a drop of 2.2% on May's figure of £499bn.

This is because a decline in market values outweighed the inflow of new money, the IMA says.

However, funds under management are 25% higher than in June last year.

In June, the leading asset class was bonds with net retail sales of £579m, followed by equities at £525m.

Cautious Managed was the best selling IMA sector during the month, with net retail sales of £218m. it took over the leading spot from Absolute Return, which was the best selling sector in May.

£ Strategic Bond was the second most popular IMA Sector, up from fourth position in May. It was followed by Property, Unclassified and Global Bonds.

At the other end of the scale, the lowest selling sector in June was Japanese Smaller Companies, which saw a net outflow of £114m.

Elsewhere, net ISA sales for the first half of 2010 reached their highest level since 2001, totaling £3.1bn, up from £1.8bn in the first half of last year.

In June 2010, net ISA sales totalled £434m, which is the highest figure for this month since 2000.

Fund platforms saw a seasonal fall in ISA sales in June, with gross sales at £684m, representing 24% of product sales, back down to the proportion seen in the three months before the ISA season.

Julie Patterson, director of authorised funds & tax at the IMA, says: "Investors have continued to show their confidence in funds this year, with sales for the first six months of 2010 being only slightly down on last year, which was the highest year on record.

"ISA sales for the first six months are the highest they have been since 2001. Also investors are diversifying, choosing a wide range of assets as well as different investment regions and sectors."