Investment company purchases on platforms by advisers and wealth managers reached a new record high of £125.3m in the first quarter this year.
Annual purchases for the year to end Q1 2015 also reached a new high of £468.6m, according to The Association of Investment Companies which has published data from Matrix Financial Clarity.

Other findings included that Transact, an IFP corporate member, remained the top platform for investment company purchases, accounting for 53% of the market.

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Alliance Trust Savings has overtaken Ascentric as the second most popular platform in Q1 2015, with market share of 21% and 14% respectively.

Investment company purchases were 14% higher than purchases of £109.7m in Q1 2014, and 43% higher than purchases of £87.6m in Q1 2013.

In Q1 2015, total purchases of all products were down 2% compared with Q4 2014. In comparison, investment companies in Q1 2015 were up 14% on Q4 2014.

Sales of investment company shares through platforms increased to £77.2m in Q1 2015 from £70.3m in Q4 2014, suggesting advisers and wealth managers are taking profits and rebalancing portfolios. However, sales were 5% lower than in Q1 2014 (£81m).

Ian Sayers, chief executive of the Association of Investment Companies, said: “It’s promising to see investment company purchases on adviser platforms hit another record high in Q1 2015. It’s also pleasing that the number of adviser firms purchasing investment companies has increased considerably. Demand for investment company training remains high, and our adviser education programme will continue with ten educational seminars across the UK starting in June.”

Other findings:

• The Global and UK Equity Income sectors remain the most popular on adviser platforms in Q1 2015, accounting for 15% and 12% of total investment company purchases respectively.
• The Property Direct - UK sector has risen in popularity for three quarters consecutively, accounting for 9% of investment company purchases in Q1 2015. The Hedge Funds sector is now the fourth most popular sector, making up 6% of purchases in Q1 2015 with purchases in the Infrastructure sector down on the previous quarter to 5%.
• The number of adviser and wealth manager firms purchasing investment companies on platforms is 881, up 13% on Q1 2014 (780).