Net sales of UCITS and AIFs reached EUR222 billion, compared to EUR189 billion in Q4 201, according to the latest Quarterly Statistical Release from the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA).
Net sales of equity and multi-asset funds continued to increase during the first quarter, whereas net sales of bond funds fell sharply.
UCITS registered net sales of EUR171 billion, compared to EUR170 billion in Q4 2017.
Long-term UCITS – UCITS excluding money market funds – recorded the same amount of net sales as in Q4 2017 (EUR173 billion). Equity funds enjoyed the highest level of net sales (EUR85 billion), followed by multi-asset funds (EUR58) and bond funds (EUR27 billion).
Net sales of UCITS money market funds recorded net outflows of EUR2 billion, compared to net outflows of EUR3 billion in Q4 2017.
AIFs net sales amounted to EUR51 billion, up from EUR19 billion in Q4 2017. Net sales of equity funds turned negative (EUR2 billion), whereas bond funds continued to record net outflows, albeit lower than during the last quarter of 2017 (EUR4 billion, compared to EUR37 billion).
Total European investment fund net assets decreased by 0.5 per cent to EUR15,541 billion at end March 2018. Net assets of UCITS dropped by 0.6 per cent to EUR9,669 billion and net assets of AIFs decreased 0.4 per cent to EUR5.872.
Bernard Delbecque (pictured), Senior Director for Economics and Research, says: “Net sales of UCITS remained strong in Q1 2018 thanks to a sales record in January and continuing net sales in the following two months, despite the turmoil in the markets.”
