The investment platform industry saw assets jump by 14% in the second quarter of 2020, recovering most of the ground lost in Q1, according to a new report.

The report from Fundscape said a handful of platforms improved on their Q4 2019 assets.

In the advised retail channel Old Mutual Wealth saw the highest gross sales. Fidelity leapfrogged several platforms to take second spot in the net sales table behind Transact. Both platforms attributed their robust sales to proactive adviser support and engagement during the Coronavirus pandemic lockdown.

Aegon is now largest combined consumer and retail advised platform in the industry by a significant margin due to combining its propositions during Q2. It accounted for 20% of industry assets with £142bn under administration.

Gross sales for investment platforms returned to a more normal £30bn in Q2, indicating that the panic-selling, transfers and switches that racked up £38bn in the first quarter, eventually ran out of steam.

Inflows, outflows and withdrawals were all lower, resulting in an industry net sales total of £13bn. This represents the best quarter for the platform since Q1 2018.

Bella Caridade-Ferreira, CEO of Fundscape said: “It was a surprisingly good quarter given the pandemic and lockdown measures. Much of this quarter’s business was driven by tax-year-end activity, particularly ISA sales. This may have been a dead cat bounce — ISA activity dominates the first half of the year, so the second half of the year is likely to be sluggish in comparison.

“Advisers benefited from existing client business that had been held back in 2019, but recruiting new clients in this environment is proving difficult. The third quarter should hold its own, but the fourth quarter will likely be affected by a reduction in new client business and a shrinking economy.”