With bank deposit rates near zero, total sales of investment funds in Hong Kong are on course to hit a record high this year as investors rush to buy higher-yielding fixed-income products.

Despite the economic uncertainties in Europe and the United States, total fund sales in Hong Kong in the first seven months of this year climbed to US$ 28 billion, up 14 per cent from the year-earlier period.

The strong sales are in contrast to the turnover on the city’s stock market, where daily volume has dropped 25 per cent over the same period.