UK savers invested £4.4bn into funds in March, taking the first quarter of the year to positive net retail inflows of £10bn.

Total funds under management hit £1.5trn in March, a rise from £1.1trn in March 2020.

The global sector was the best-selling sector of the quarter with £3.6bn inflows, according to the latest data from the Investment Association. Inflows for the sector in March were £1.6bn.

The worse-selling sector in March was corporate bonds which saw outflows of £1.5bn over the month.

Responsible investment funds set a new monthly record in March as they saw a net retail inflow of £1.6bn. Responsible investment funds under management stood at £66bn as of the end of March. Their overall share of industry funds under management was 4.5%.

Sales in UK funds began to recover over the quarter.

Chris Cummings, chief executive of the Investment Association, said: “The beginning of Spring saw the thawing of investor sentiment towards UK companies following the successful rollout of the coronavirus vaccine and broader growth in business confidence. With confidence returning to the market, savers invested £217 million into smaller UK companies, but also put £472 million into funds in the UK All Companies sector, typically invested in medium to large companies listed on the FTSE– the first such inflow in six months.”