The report, published 15 May, showed that net platform sales for Q1 2015 fell short both year-on-year and against the previous quarter.
A net total of £9.3bn in purchases marked a 23.1% slide on the £12.1bn recorded in the three months to 31 December, alongside a £500m year-on-year decline.
The drop came in spite of gross platform sales proving relatively healthy, with the £21.4bn registered in Q1 2015 representing a slight decrease on the £22.1bn the quarter prior but marking a step up on £19.9bn total 12 months earlier.
Topping the Q1 gross sales table was Cofunds on £5.5bn, followed by Fidelity’s £3.2bn and Hargreaves Lansdown’s £2.46bn totals.
Cofunds also snagged pole position in terms of Q1 assets with £76.1bn – 24.5% higher than second-placed Fidelity’s £61.1bn, with Hargreaves Lansdown lagging a further £10bn behind on £51.5bn.
However, Hargreaves Lansdown registered the highest net sales figure in the quarter, hitting £1.5bn in new money against Standard Life and Zurich’s £1bn and £745m respectively.
Aviva almost doubled its total platform assets in the past 12 months, exhibiting year-on-year growth of 90.2%. Zurich was not far behind on 73.3%, before a significant gap to third-placed Nucleus’ 28.9%.
In channel terms, retail advised significantly increased its share of total platform purchases, with net and gross sales jumping 61% and 53% respectively.
Bella Caridade-Ferreira, CEO of Fundscape, cited the General Election, the changing pensions landscape and fears over Greece exiting the EU as influential in stemming investment activity.
She said: “Gross flows were robust, but as indicated by net flows, there was more switching than usual and less new money overall.”
“With the elections behind us and pension freedom a fact of life, we expect an upturn in the second quarter. But these things take time to filter through and we may not see a real upswing in net flows until the third quarter of the year.”
