Advisers show new interest in passive investments

When asked into which asset classes they would be investing over the next 12 months, nearly two in five IFAs (38%) indicated they would be buying passive funds, an increase of 7% on 2011, when only three in 10 had passive investments in their sights.

The findings come from Legal & General Investments' annual What Matters Investment Index which aims to investigate the views of the IFA community, tracking how sentiment and behaviour changes over time.

While there has been an increase in the number of IFAs taking up passive investments on behalf of their clients there was little change in the number of advisers likely to invest in active funds over the coming 12 months, remaining steady at 80%.

Simon Ellis, Managing Director, Legal & General Investments, said:

"In anticipation of RDR, and from talking to advisers in the marketplace, we believe passive investments will occupy an increasingly prominent position in the market and this research provides further evidence of this view. It will be fascinating to see how this develops into 2013 and beyond as advisers become used to operating in a fee based environment."

He continued: "Legal & General Investments firmly believes that a mixture of active and passive funds is appropriate but of course individual risk appetite should be the guiding force when advisers are constructing portfolios for their clients."