mandg biggest fund group

The trade body’s figures for February showed that M&G had total retail and institutional funds under management of £39.46bn, giving it a market share of 6.413% versus Invesco’s 6.407%.

M&G’s rise to the top of the FUM table (see below) is the first time it has occupied this position since December 1998, and caps a more than doubling of the group’s funds under management since the start of the financial crisis.

Rapid ascent

IMA data from August 2008 – the month before the collapse of Lehman Brothers – shows that the company was ranked just tenth in terms of FUM, with £15.25bn, below Scottish Widows.

However, strong inflows into M&G’s fixed income range and some of its equity strategies – in combination with outflows from equity-focused rivals – soon saw it climbing the table.

By the end of 2009, the group ran £22.87bn and was fourth in the list – behind LGIM, Fidelity and Invesco. One year later, its funds had grown to £29.98bn, allowing it to leapfrog LGIM. And by December 2011 the group had accumulated almost an extra £6bn, taking it above Fidelity.

Its move above Invesco in February this year marks the first time Invesco has found itself in second spot since September 2007, when Fidelity last headed the table.

Retail summit in sight

M&G is also likely to overtake Invesco in the IMA’s retail-only FUM table this year, if recent sales trends continue (M&G achieved the top net retail sales of any group in Q4 2011, with £1.20bn, according to the Pridham Report, while Invesco failed to make the top ten).

The retail FUM gap between the two firms had narrowed to about £240m in February, with M&G running £38.86bn and Invesco managing £39.10bn in retail money.

Fund sizes

The success of M&G in attracting inflows over the past few years is also apparent in the size of certain products. Data from FE Analytics shows that the group now has 17 funds with more than £1bn in assets. Leading the pack is Tom Dobell’s Recovery Fund, which has almost £10bn.

Fixed income veteran Richard Woolnough, meanwhile, is running more than £20bn, across the company’s Strategic Corporate Bond, Corporate Bond and Optimal Income portfolios.

M&G declined to comment on the latest IMA statistics.