Retail fund sales in Hong Kong up by a half to US$44.1 billion

Total retail fund sales in the first half of this year jumped 51 per cent to US$44.1 billion, as strong market sentiment led higher demand for investment products, the Hong Kong Investment Funds Association (HKIFA) said on Tuesday.

Retail fund net sales – which deducts redemptions from the gross sales figures – expanded 260 per cent from a year earlier to US$4.8 billion. That comfortably surpassed net sales in the whole of 2016 of US$3.1 billion, and US$3 billion in 2015.

“The significant improvement in net sales during the first half of the year is underpinned by the robust performance of various equity and bond markets and an improving economic outlook globally,” said Arthur Bacci, chairman of HKIFA.

“As central banks synchronise their efforts to remove monetary accommodation, investors should be alert to potential impacts on equity and bond valuations. The currency market may also see greater impact on returns.”

The best sellers were the bond funds, which reported total sales of US$18.91 billion in the first six months, up 28 per cent from last year. High-yield bond funds had net sales of US$2.4 billion, easily beating the full year figure for 2016 of US$1.5 billion.

The second-best sellers were balance funds, which invest in a mixture of stocks and bonds. Their gross sales tripled to US$12.4 billion in the period.