Inflows were at just £23m for the month, compared with £1.2bn in August 2011. According to the IMA, retail sales have not been this dismal since October 2008, when there were outflows of £490m.
However, funds under management increased to £619bn, up from £564.4bn in August 2011, owing to a market rally.
The IMA says total sales year-to-date are still healthy, at £9.1bn, but down on this time last year, when the figure stood at£15.8bn.
Fixed income funds continued to lead inflows for the 12th consecutive month, attracting £518m in August. Sterling Strategic Bond was the best-selling sector, followed by Sterling Corporate Bond.
Global Equity Income was the only equity sector to reach the top-five in August, with funds focused on this asset class experiencing the biggest outflows since November last year, at £604m.
Top-selling sectors in August 2012
| IMA Sector | Ranking in August 2012 | Net retail sales in August 2012 (£m) | Ranking in July 2012 | Asset class |
| Strategic Bond | 1 | 187 | 3 | Fixed income |
| Corporate Bond | 2 | 184 | 1 | Fixed income |
| Global Equity Income | 3 | 104 | 5 | Equity |
| Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares | 4 | 68 | 2 | Mixed asset |
| Global Bonds | 5 | 66 | 4 | Fixed income |
Source: IMA
By contrast, UK All Companies was the least popular sector in August, with net outflows of £401m, its worst figure since January 2008.
However, this has not stopped Anthony Cross and Julian Fosh’s Liontrust Special Situations portfolio, which FE Trustnet highlighted in a recent article as one of the best-selling in the IMA universe this year.
ISAs also took a hit in August, experiencing outflows of £105.7m – the largest figure since February of this year.