Highlights
- Total flows to mutual funds and ETFs for December were €42.16bn. Mutual funds attracted €12.7bn, while ETFs took €29.46bn.
- Equities were the best-selling asset class for the month (+€26.52bn: +€4.72bn MF/ +€21.8bn ETF), overtaking a long-standing lead by bonds.
- Equity Emerging Markets Global were the top-selling classification (+€7.41bn: +€3.89bn MF/+€3.52bn ETF).
- The largest redemptions were from Money Market EUR (-€17.21bn).
- BlackRock was the most successful fund promoter over the month (+€23bn).
December saw some consolidation after a volatile 2025. Inflation continued to ease across major economies, while growth remained resilient despite lingering tariff and geopolitical risks. Monetary policy divergence continued: the US Federal Reserve cut the fed funds rate by 25 basis points (bps), taking the policy range to 3.50–3.75%, although signalling slower easing in 2026. Meanwhile, the European Central Bank (ECB) held rates at 2%, and the Bank of Japan (BoJ) raised rates to 0.75%, its highest level in three decades.
Global government bond yields generally rose at the long end, reflecting policy divergence and reduced rate‑cut expectations. The US 10‑year Treasury ended December around 4.15%, up on the month despite the Fed cut, while Japanese 10‑year yields surpassed 2% following the BoJ hike. Credit markets were more resilient: investment‑grade and high‑yield spreads tightened slightly as carry remained attractive and default risks stayed contained.
Equity markets were broadly flat to modestly positive, but ended 2025 strongly, as did equity fund flows—the best-selling asset class for the month. This was despite lingering concerns around tech valuations and AI investment payoffs, as the tech rally slackened, impacting returns in these areas of the market. Meanwhile, easing short rates and steepening yield curves remained supportive of the financials sector. Market leadership broadened beyond US mega‑cap technology, with financials, value stocks, and international equities gaining relative traction, and over the year the US has lagged Europe and emerging markets in EUR terms.
Asset Type Flows
Asset Type Flows December 2025
Chart 1: Estimated Net Flows by Asset and Product Type – December 2025 (€bn)
Source: LSEG Lipper
Total flows to mutual funds and ETFs for December were €42.16bn, with month-on-month sales continuing to trend down since August. Mutual funds attracted €12.7bn, while ETFs took €29.46bn.
Bonds had been the best-selling asset class since April, when they sold off heavily, but December saw equities creep into the lead (+€26.52bn: +€4.72bn MF/+€21.8bn ETF). Unusually, both mutual funds and ETFs were in positive territory, as monthly sales have often exhibited a rotation from the former to the latter.
Bonds followed (+€23.94bn: +€19.22bn MF/+€4.72bn ETF), then mixed assets (+€10bn: +€9.94bn MF/+€0.06bn ETF). Mixed assets have been steadily increasing their sales over H2, and have finished the year relatively strongly. Alternatives (+€4bn: +€4.08bn MF/-€0.08bn ETF), commodities (+€1.78bn: +€0.84bn MF/+€0.94bn ETF), and “other” funds (+€0.01bn, all MF) followed. Real estate was again in negative territory, with redemptions of €1.33bn.
However, the big change this month was with money market funds (MMFs), which saw large redemptions (-€22.77bn: -€24.79bn MF/+€2.02bn ETF). These redemptions weighed on aggregate fund flows over the month, with risk assets holding up relatively well.
Asset Type Flows Year to Date
Chart 2: Estimated Net Sales by Asset and Product Type, January 1 – December 31, 2025 (€bn)
Source: LSEG Lipper
Aggregate year-to-date flows were €704.72bn (+€371bn MF/+€333.31bn ETF).
December’s MMF sell-off brings about a change in the asset class rankings. Bonds remain the most popular (+€284.06bn: +€221.36bn MF/+€62.69bn ETF), as equities move up to second place (+€175.72bn: -€73.93bn MF/+€249.65bn ETF). MMFs follow (+€167.94bn: +€152.91bn MF/+€15.03bn ETF); then next mixed assets (+€49.52bn: +€48.7bn MF/+€0.82bn ETF); alternatives (+€24.48bn: +€26.72bn MF/+€1.75bn ETF), and commodity funds (+€10.44bn: +€7.08bn MF/+€3.36bn ETF).
On the negative side of the equation, “other” (-€1.43bn) and real estate funds (-€10bn) suffered YTD redemptions, all from mutual funds.
Fund Flows Active vs Passive Products
Chart 3: Estimated Net Flows by Management Approach and Product Type, December 2025 (LHS); January 1 – December 31, 2025 (RHS). €bn
Source: LSEG Lipper
Actively managed mutual funds netted €9.43bn in December, well down on previous months. This is mainly the effect of MMF redemptions, which is a predominantly actively managed asset class. ETFs were the most popular vehicle and saw inflows of €29.46bn. Mutual fund index trackers enjoyed their second consecutive positive month (+€3.27bn).
YTD, those figures are: (active MFs +€400.19bn, ETFs +€333.31bn, and passive MFs -€28.78bn). When MMFs are stripped out YTD, actively managed mutual funds’ share of long-term asset flows was +€2.57.72bn, flows to long-term assets in ETFs were +€3.18.28bn, while index-tracking mutual funds saw redemptions of €39.22bn.
Fund Flows by Lipper Global Classification
Fund Flows by Lipper Global Classification, December 2025
Chart 4: Ten Best- and Worst Lipper Global Classifications by Estimated Net Sales, December 2025 (€bn)
Source: LSEG Lipper
The year finishes on something of an anomaly, with Equity Emerging Markets Global being the top-selling classification (+€7.41bn: +€3.89bn MF/+€3.52bn ETF). While Lipper’s UK report for December shows that more than €660m of this came from UK investors, it’s clearly a much more broadly based move. While chart 5, below, shows EM equity has been popular over the year, likely on the back of strong relative performance over the year, this is the first time we’ve seen it take pole position. It was clearly a positive EM month, as on the fixed income front, Bond Emerging Markets Global LC also saw significant inflows (+€2.71bn: +€2.49bn MF/+€0.22bn ETF).
Though Bond Global USD takes second place (+€6.43bn: +€4.83bn MF/+€1.61bn ETF), it’s clearly a month for equity classifications: Equity Europe (+€5.4bn: +€1.84bn MF/+€3.56bn ETF); Equity Global (+€4.95bn: -€2.83bn MF/+€7.78bn ETF); and Equity US (+€4.28bn: +€2.39bn MF/+€1.89bn ETF).
Money Market GBP bucked the MMF trend for the month, netting €3.51bn, almost exclusively to MFs. However, the largest redemptions were from Money Market EUR (-€17.21bn: -€18.7bn MF/+€1.5bn ETF), which also saw the largest redemptions last month, and Money Market USD (-€6bn: -€6.51bn MF/+€0.51bn ETF), which was November’s top-selling classification.
Fund Flows by Lipper Global Classification, Year to Date
Chart 5: Ten Best- and Worst Lipper Global Classifications by Estimated Net Sales, January 1 – December 31, 2025 (€bn)
Source: LSEG Lipper
Money Market USD retains top place, despite December’s redemptions (+€92.83bn: +€89.34bn MF/+€3.49bn ETF). However, asset shifts see Money Market EUR move down the table (+€51.08bn: +€39.69bn MF/+€11.39bn ETF).
Equity Global takes second place (+€63.4bn: -€10.12bn MF/+€73.53bn ETF), with Equity Europe (+€42.39bn: +€4.2bn MF/+€38.19bn ETF) also demonstrating the rotation away from Equity US over the year. Money Market GBP (+€27.72bn) has also been strongly supported, predominantly by UK investors.
Bond Global Short Term (+€24.05bn) and Bond EUR Short Term (+€22.87bn) both demonstrate the fact that many investors had been hunkered down at the short end of yield curves in search of income, although comparing this with chart 4 indicates that this has ebbed as curves have normalised and steepened.
On the negative side, UK equities remain unpopular, despite the strong performance of the FTSE 100 over 2025, as UK investors continued to sell—although we did see the first positive flows this month since November 2024. Equity UK continues to languish at the bottom of the table (-€20.35bn: -€21.18bn MF/+€0.83bn ETF). Equity US Small & Mid Cap (-€7.5bn) and Equity UK Income (-€5.6bn) also continue to languish.
Fund Flows by Promoter
Fund Flows by Promoter, December 2025
Chart 6: Ten Best-Selling Fund Promoters in Europe, December 2025 (€bn)
Source: LSEG Lipper
The 10 companies in the table above accounted for 133.77% of net flows over the month, summing to €56.39bn.
BlackRock posted sales almost three times its nearest rival in December (+€23bn: +€14.13bn MFs/+€8.87bn ETFs), as mutual fund sales recovered. This was followed once again by Amundi (+€7.84bn: +€1.48bn MFs/+€6.37bn ETFs) and JPMorgan (+€4.57bn: +€4.97bn MFs/-€42bn ETFs).
Fund Flows by Promoter, Year to Date
Chart 7: Ten Best-Selling Fund Promoters in Europe, January 1 – December 31, 2025 (€bn)
Source: LSEG Lipper
Flows of the top 10-selling fund providers totalled €379.99bn, or 52.79%, of total net flows for the year.
BlackRock retained its lead in December, as by far the dominant ETF player in the European market despite net outflows from its MF range (+€75.81bn: -€39.58bn MFs/+€115.4bn ETFs).
JP Morgan takes second place, with the strongest mutual fund sales (+€50.88bn: +€46.26bn MFs/+€4.62bn ETFs), and then, as in October and November, DWS (+€42.53bn: +€14.25bn MFs/+€28.28bn ETFs).
