The money flow into UK funds continued in the third quarter with total gross sales and net sales greatly improving compared to last year, according to UK Fund Flash, a monthly newsletter revealed by Lipper FMI.

Gross sales rose to £30 billion ($50.5 billion), compared with £24 billion last year, and net sales rose from £4.5 billion last year to £9 billion this year.

The analysts say that not only low interest rates but also the stock market performance have been responsible for this development, which saw UK fund assets rising to £463 billion, close to their all-time record in 2007 of £468.

With £20 billion, private investors were recording their best quarterly gross sales volume ever; nevertheless, net sales were slightly lower than last quarter, according to Lipper’s data. 

For most bank-owned fund managers the situation did not look quite as good in the third quarter. This is interpreted as caused by parent companies to focus on building balance sheets rather than selling investment products.