advisers top ten buys on platforms revealed

At the sector level, both platforms said the Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares Sector came top of adviser sales as investors continued to call for caution in their portfolios.

Both also reported strong sales in strategic bond, corporate bond and equity income sectors.

Drilling down to the fund level there are some marked differences, however. Unsurprisingly, Fundsnetwork’s highest selling fund is a Fidelity product, the MoneyBuilder Income Fund, while Cofunds’ top selling Fund is Richard Woolnough’s M&G Optimal Income Fund.

M&G’s Global Dividend and Strategic Corporate Bond funds are present in both of the top tens, but in different rankings.

Fundsnetwork has another in-house offering in Ian Spreadbury’s Strategic Bond Fund within its top five sellers, while interestingly no Fidelity funds at all feature in Cofunds’ top ten.

Paul Causer and Paul Read’s Invesco Perpetual Distribution Fund is common to both top tens, as is Newton’s Global Higher Income offering run by Tineke Frikkee.

But while the consistently popular Standard Lifes GARS Fund is eighth in terms of sales for Fundsnetwork, it does not rank in Cofunds’ top ten at all.

Michelle Woodburn, head of fund group relations at Cofunds, said: “While Mixed Investment 20-60% Share boomed in July, overall it proved to be a volatile month with many sectors seeing mass outflows. However, the sectors that followed this trend have been out of favour all year so it does not come as a surprise.

“North America has continued to do well following its increased sales position that began in the second quarter.”

Klare Baldwin, head of marketing at fundsnetwork, said: “August trends could be the one to watch. If the progress made by equity markets in June and July continues, we may see some signs of investor confidence returning.”