The Auto Auction Group

Many investors ignored the poor savings rates from high street Deposit and Bank accounts last year as recent numbers point to a record yr for investment funds.
According to numbers from The Investment Management Association (IMA), a record amount was allocated to investment funds last year. Investors invested £25.8bn in unit trusts and open-ended investment companies (OEICs), types of investments that let individuals to pool money together to purchase Equities and Bonds.
The figures are the highest since records began in nineteen ninety two and 45 per cent higher than the previous record set in 2000, when new investments totalled £17.7bn.
An IMA spokesperson said: ‘A combination of factors led to this significant increase in 2009. Low returns on savings accounts caused people to look at putting their money into other assets. At the same time, the recession caused them to increase their savings levels.’
However with a current inflation rate above the Bank of England’s 2 percent target, savers relying on deposit based investments will remain unhappy.
In total, £9.9bn was vested in bonds during the twelvemonth, while £7.3bn went into Equities, when compared to 2008, when people withdrew £1.3bn more from equities than they invested.
The increase in investments, combined with good stock market returns during the yr, also served to drive up the value of funds under management to record amounts.