Cautious Managed sales soar as advisers turn to outsourced solutions

The Cautious Managed sector accounted for more than half of total sales on Cofunds in October in its best-ever monthly showing as advisers continue to favour outsourcing solutions.

Propped up by HSBC's Open Global Return fund, which stormed to the top of the sales chart, Cautious Managed funds accounted for 55% of net sales - significantly higher than its year-to-date average of 32%. Four of the top five funds on the platform were Cautious Managed funds.

Michelle Woodburn, manager, fund group relations (pictured) said advisers' preference for multi-asset investment solutions shows no sign of abating in the run up to the Retail Distribution Review (RDR).

"Cautious Managed has been a big theme for a while - it is a useful outsourcing solution for advisers with RDR looming and gives them a repeatable, demonstrable process for allocating client money."

But Woodburn added outflows from other sectors also contributed to the stellar performance of Cautious Managed funds, with investors turning their backs on Europe and UK funds amid ongoing turbulence in the eurozone.

Europe ex UK suffered outflows of 3.5% during the month whilst UK All Companies and UK Equity Income saw net sales of -7% and -10% respectively.

With the UK and Europe proving unpopular with investors, global funds remained a big theme. The Global sector scooped 12% of net sales against a year-to-date average of 10% to claim a third-placed finish.

The economic gloom also helped explain a move away from equities to fixed interest as investors sought safe-haven assets including bonds and gilts.

Gilts grabbed 10% of net sales during the month with the L&G All Stock Gilt Index tracker the standout performer.

Underlining the fixed interest theme, Strategic Bond attracted 12% of net sales whilst Corporate Bond - which had been in outflow - accounted for 5% of sales.

Meanwhile Cofunds bucked the market trend and registered a 1% growth in assets under management in Q3 - compared to a drop of 2.3% for the platform market as a whole.

According to the latest figures from Fundscape's platform report, Cofunds posted record figures for gross and net sales of £4.6bn and £3.3bn respectively.

The platform cited diversification of its distribution channels as a key driver of its sound quarterly performance.

"Cofunds has outperformed a falling market and we have seen both strong inflows and a growth in AUA - during a difficult time for our clients and their customers," said chief executive officer Martin Davis.