Compared with sales of £296m in the first six months of 2016, data compiled by Matrix Financial Clarity shows investment trust sales on platforms jumped 74% in the first half of the year.
Indeed, in the second quarter of 2017 alone purchases of closed-ended companies reached £264m, which the AIC reports as being the second-highest quarterly level of purchases on record. The only quarter with higher value of purchases was in the second quarter of 2015, when Woodford Patient Capital was launched.
Accounting for 15% of adviser purchases, the global sector was the most popular in the second quarter, followed by property direct – UK (13%), UK equity income (11%) and private equity (6%).
The main adviser platforms used for investment company purchases during the second quarter were Transact, with a 40% market share, Alliance Trust with 24%, Ascentric (16%) and FundsNetwork (8%).
Ian Sayers, chief executive of the AIC, said: “It’s clear that advisers are not only recognising the benefits of investment companies for equities but are increasingly aware of the strength of the closed-ended structure for accessing illiquid assets.
“The property direct – UK sector has been popular since the problems of open-ended property funds last year, and it’s interesting to see that the private equity sector, one of the few ways investors can access portfolios of unquoted companies, is gaining adviser interest.”
