On a rainy December day last year, Hargreaves Lansdown announced the inclusion of the First State Asia Focus Fund on its Wealth 150+ select list. Suddenly, the sun shone for this fund! Morningstar data shows that net flows in the following month after the Wealth 150+ inclusion were around £50m higher than previously.
Of course, not all would have come from Hargreaves Lansdown customers, but a significant proportion would. In fact, the fund became one of the top ten most popular funds on the platform.
Conceived to help the ‘do it with me’ investor, platforms tell us that even the more sophisticated investors tap into select lists to complement their own research. We find that select lists are the second most useful investment selection tool for investors behind fund news and analysis. Platforms tell us that their clients like the lists and all the research that goes with them.
The number of D2C select lists has increased over the years. 14 direct platforms currently have at least one select list and we expect more to launch. Interactive Investor’s Rated Investments is the latest.
The make-up of the lists is also evolving, generally becoming shorter and with more platforms covering passives within the main list or via a dedicated list. Not quite the case for investment trusts.
We are publishing a report on D2C select lists next week (see table of contents). Don’t miss it – it could be worth £50m in flows.