Net retail fund sales in the UK hit a record high for the second consecutive month in April, according to the Investment Association.
The UK saw £4.9 billion (€5.6 billion) of net fund subscriptions, once again led by equities.
Equities saw their second highest sales on record at £2 billion as investors took advantage of a higher allowance for tax-free Isa funds.
Chris Cummings, chief executive of the Investment Association, said: “With the ISA allowance increasing to £20,000 a year, many investors decided to start the new tax year by investing their savings through authorised funds. This contributed to net retail sales reaching a record high for the second month in a row, with £4.9 billion of new retail money invested in April.”
The UK’s biggest month on record for fund sales was in June 2013, when £2.5 billion poured into equity funds.
The latest figures show that global equities drew the largest net monthly inflow, with £1.2 billion invested.
Separate fund flow figures from EPFR Global showed that Europe equity funds absorbed $2.2 billion in the last week of May, extending their longest inflow streak since Q4 2015 to ten weeks.
Similarly, emerging market equity funds posted their 11th consecutive weekly inflow. However, the weekly total was the lowest since the current run of net inflows began in the third week of March. The prospect of higher US interest rates, uncertainty about Chinese growth and fears that some markets like India were overbought took their toll on investor sentiment EPFR Global said.
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