Investment fund assets worldwide increased by 4.4 per cent to EUR45.65 trillion at end Q2 2018, according to the European Fund and Asset Management Association’s (EFAMA) latest International Statistical Release.
In US dollar terms, due to the appreciation of the US dollar, worldwide investment fund assets decreased by 1.3 per cent to stand at USD 53.22 trillion at end Q2 2018.
Net cash inflows into funds worldwide amounted to EUR190 billion, down from EUR502 billion in Q1 2018. Net inflows reached EUR29 billion in Europe, compared to EUR113 billion in the United States.
Long-term funds (all funds excluding money market funds) recorded net inflows of EUR159 billion, compared to EUR491 billion in Q1 2018. Equity funds attracted net sales of EUR36 billion, down from EUR217 billion in Q1 2018, while bond funds posted net sales of EUR60 billion, down from EUR119 billion in Q1 2018, and balanced/mixed funds registered net sales of EUR23 billion, down from EUR89 billion in Q1 2018.
Money market funds registered net sales of EUR31 billion, up from EUR11 billion in Q1 2018.
At the end of the second quarter of 2018, assets of equity and bond funds represented 42.1 per cent and 20.2 per cent of worldwide investment fund assets, respectively. Of the remaining assets, money market funds represented 11.2 per cent and the asset share of balanced/mixed funds was 17.4 per cent.
The market shares of the ten largest countries/regions in the world market were the United States (46.3 per cent), Europe (34.0 per cent), Australia (3.9 per cent), China (3.4 per cent), Japan (3.4 per cent), Brazil (3.3 per cent), Canada (3.2 per cent), Rep. of Korea (0.9 per cent), India (0.6 per cent) and South Africa (0.4 per cent).
