Transact has kept its spot as top adviser platform in terms of net sales in 2020, according to data from platform and fund research house Fundscape.

Transact attracted advised net sales of £3.47bn in 2020.

The platform also topped Fundscape’s chart in 2019 with £3.6bn in net sales.

Aviva and AJ Bell also remained popular with advisers with net sales of £3.46bn and £3bn respectively. There has been no change to the top three platforms, with all three appearing in the same order in 2019.

When calculated on a gross sales basis, Standard Life (including Elevate but excluding Parmenion) pipped Transact to the top pot with £6.28bn of gross sales in 2020 in comparison to Transact’s £5.79bn.

In 2019 the top spot for gross sales was held by Aegon’s Cofunds platform, followed by Fidelity.

When looking at the fourth quarter in isolation, Aviva and True Potential stormed into first and second place in the fourth quarter with net sales of over £1bn, a substantial increase for both platforms. Transact took the third spot with £840m in net sales.

According to Fundscape, despite the difficult backdrop of the Coronavirus pandemic, adviser platforms have adapted well and accounted for 70% of net platform flows in 2020.

Bella Caridade-Ferreira, CEO of Fundscape, said: “The last few weeks of the year were a boon for platforms and investment managers alike. It took time for platforms and adviser firms to adapt to life under Covid, but 2020’s net sales were actually better than the previous year’s when Brexit was the main drag on flows.

“Nonetheless, many investors have stayed on the side-lines, and a considerable wall of money has built up that should flow into the platform industry in 2021. Barring no major incidents of course.”

Fundscape expects an improvement in investor sentiment this year be a boost to platforms, and that the first half of 2021 should be home to “buoyant sales” for platforms.