There are signs that investors are shifting money to safer havens in the face of economic and political turmoil, according to a fund research company.

Finscape, which reviews fund flows, says its latest data suggests substantial switching and transferring of investments to ‘safe havens’ although less money was invested overall.

The first quarter was a turbulent time for investment providers covered by Finscape.

Most reported a major hit to assets as markets dropped around the world. Assets at the end of Q1 this year were down by £17.3bn to £580.7bn (£598bn at end of Q4 2021).

At the same time gross sales rose by 21% during Q1 to £60.6bn while net sales dropped 20% to £82bn.

Finscape believes this may indicate substantial switching of existing funds.

The firm, a joint venture between fund data providers Fundscape and fintech Altus, said it was a “rollercoaster ride for markets and sentiment” during Q1 but despite the rocky start to the year, retail wealth management assets recovered some of the ground lost earlier in the first three months of the year.  

Finscape said: “Interestingly, gross sales jumped by 21% during the quarter to £60.6bn, while net sales dropped 20% to £8.2bn. That means the market was home to a considerable amount of switching, transferring and moving to safe havens and less new money was invested overall.”    

Despite the uncertain outlook, some firms generated strong business flows, Finscape said. 

The top 10 distributors of the quarter by gross sales were:

1.    Succession Wealth

2.    Cazenove Capital

3.    Fairstone

4.    Brewin Dolphin

5.    Ascot Lloyd

6.    Skipton 

7.    Investec Wealth

8.    Chase de Vere

9.    Balmoral 

10. Tilney Financial Planning

Source: Finscape

M&A activity in Q1 remained strong in the retail wealth management sector with Royal Bank of Canada announcing plans to acquire Brewin Dolphin and Succession being acquired by Aviva. Fairstone and Ascot Lloyd - two firms responsible for significant flows - also have private equity parents to support their ongoing expansion, Finscape said.

Finscape has 14 platform clients and 10 asset management clients.