Popularity Of Sector Or Themed Funds

23% of investors to choose a sector or themed fund

17% of investors to choose a geographical fund

Twenty-three per cent of investors say that their next ISA investment will be in a sector or themed fund and only 17% say that they will be purchasing a geographical fund, according to new research conducted by MORI on behalf of Framlington Investment Management.

Neil Birrell, Head of Specialist Funds at Framlington commented: "This research highlights that investors are catching on to what we have known for some time - namely that the geographical location of a company is not as important as its global sector. Almost half of investors who will opt for a sector fund still do not know which one to choose, therefore it is not surprising that investors are being drawn to global themed funds such as Framlington's New Leaders".

Many investors have not made the decision about exactly which fund provider or individual fund they will opt for, even though they have decided between geography or sector. Forty-seven per cent of those who said that they would invest in a sector fund next didn't know which individual sector to choose whereas only 23% of people who intend to invest next into a geographical fund are having the same dilemma about which world region to choose.

So far, 14% of investors who say they will invest in a sector fund will choose technology, followed by 8% in financial funds and 6% in healthcare. Not surprisingly UK (21%) and European funds (21%) are both popular amongst investors who will invest by geography this ISA season.

The following tables illustrates exactly which sector (themed) or geographical funds investors say they will choose for this ISA season:

Technical details

The research project was carried out by MORI Financial Services, amongst 500 investors, aged 18 and above, from 13 to 24 November 2000 in order to monitor trends amongst investors about asset allocation and portfolio planning.

Framlington is offering a 1% initial charge discount for lump sum investments into ISAs and Unit Trusts in the New Leaders Fund, Health Fund, Financials Fund until 5 April 2001. The minimum investment is 1631,000 lump

To obtain further information on any of the Framlington funds, investors should visit www.framlington.co.uk or call Customer Services on 0845-777 5511. For an ISA investment pack investors should call the 24hr ISA literature line on 0845-702 3138.