Skandia sees inflows dip but hails ‘strong’ platform sales

Skandia UK has announced a 5% fall in net inflows and funds under management for the first nine months of the year - but said it had outperformed wider industry trends.

The Old Mutual Wealth Management-owned company recorded net client cash flow of £1.8bn for the first nine months of 2011, a 5% fall compared to last year.

However, it said its performance was strong relative to the wider industry where net retail funds sales plummeted 26% over the same period. It attributed this to a robust showing of its Skandia Investment Solutions platform which saw gross sales increase 7% to £4bn and net cash flow rise 4% to £2.8bn.

Funds under management also declined 5% since December 31 to £32.2bn, but Skandia noted this compares to a fall of 13% for the FTSE 100 over the same period.

Overall gross sales for the first nine months of 2011 were flat at £4.9bn.

Skandia said investors remain uneasy amid current market volatility, with investment into cash and money market funds via the Skandia Investment Solutions platform more than doubling in the third quarter as investors sought safe havens.

But it added sales of UK fixed interest and UK equity funds outperformed cash, suggesting investors continue to focus on long term, well diversified portfolios.

"We continue to see strong net sales via the Skandia Investment Solutions platform, despite industry sales retreating overall," said, Skandia UK chief executive Peter Mann (pictured).

"This is a reflection of the growing importance of platforms for retail fund sales and clear evidence that platforms are set to dominate the sales charts through the transition to the post RDR world."