The fund manager’s sales reached £2.09bn in the final quarter of the year, slightly less than the £2.32bn in the previous quarter, taking their annual total to £10.5bn. This is the fourth consecutive year that M&G have achieved the highest gross and net retail sales according to figures from the Pridham Report.
However, the Report warned that the firm could face difficulties in retaining its market lead as investors turn their focus away from bonds, which have underpinned their recent success.
M&G swept the board at last week’s Portfolio Adviser Fund Manager Awards taking home three platinum awards, two gold awards and the inaugural Portfolio Adviser’s Readers’ Choice Award.
Equities back in favour
Despite predictions of a tough Q4 as firms prepared for the introduction of RDR, many companies saw business improve in the last quarter of 2012 and appetite for equities returned in the second half of the year.
Standard Life achieved record sales for Q4 and 2012 as a whole, taking the top spot for net sales in Q4 with £1bn, and second place for 2012 with £2.53bn. Threadneedle, which held the number one position in Q3, slipped to seventh place with net sales of £291.2m in Q4.
Schroders returned to the top ten for both gross and net retail sales as a result of increased investor appetite for risk, amassing net sales of £202.4m in the final quarter of 2012.
The third, fourth and fifth place for net retail sales were taken by BNY Mellon (£2.03bn), BlackRock (£1.96bn) and Threadneedle (£1.56bn) respectively.
Helen Pridham, editor of the Report said: “It will be interesting to see what happens if investors’ appetite for risk continues to increase this year. If equity markets go on rising, other fund managers may start coming to the fore in 2013.”
