The Investment Management Association has seen the lowest fund sales since October 2008.

It saw net sales down from £1.1bn in August to £568m in September. This is well below the monthly average of £2.1bn for the previous 12 months.

Net Isa sales were down from £177m in August to £152m.

The highest selling sector was £ Corporate Bond with net retail sales of £216m, a change from the top-selling Global sector last month which dropped out of the top five.

This is the highest level for £ Corporate Bond since September 2010, which was in ninth place last month, and significantly above the monthly average of £37m for the past 12 months.

The second most popular was UK Equity Income followed by Cautious Managed.

Funds under management totalled £546bn, down three per cent from the August total.

Richard Saunders, chief executive at the IMA, said: “September’s further slowdown in fund sales confirms the trend of the previous two months. As a result net retail sales in the third quarter were the lowest since 2008.

“Investors are cautious in their asset class choices in September, with bonds and balanced funds the best selling assets. There was a modest outflow from equities, although UK equity income funds continued to attract investors.”

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