European investors were generally in a risk-on mode over the course of the year 2021 despite the increased volatility in securities markets. Given the general market environment it was no surprise that we witness some months with mixed results for the flows within the different asset types, even as the European fund industry enjoyed inflows over the course of the first nine months of 2021. In more detail, the promoters of mutual funds enjoyed inflows of €337.0 bn. In line with this, the promoters of ETFs enjoyed record inflows of €126.9 bn over the course of the year so far.

Despite the deteriorating situation with regard to the COVID-19 pandemic in some parts of Europe, Q1 2021 was a positive quarter for the European fund industry. As the overall flow pattern in Europe has further normalized, investors in Europe continued to be in risk-on mode. Within this environment the assets under management in the European fund industry rose from €12.3 tr (as of December 31, 2020) to €13.7 tr at the end of Q1 2021. While ETFs held €1.1 tr, or 8.01% of the assets under management in Europe, the vast majority of €12.6 tr, or 91.99%, was held by

Looking back on the year 2020, it can be said that no investor has seen such a year before, even if one looks back to the Great Depression or World Wars I and II. The year started off with fears about a possible war between North Korea and the U.S., an upcoming trade war between the U.S. and China, and a possible hard Brexit. In a normal year, these geopolitical tensions would have put enough pressure on the markets to cause a major downturn. But in mid-February the coronavirus, which has been seen as a local problem in China before,

Last year, as stated in our latest fund market review, was a good year for net flows into mutual funds and the overall development of the assets under management in the European fund industry. As a result, you might expect that fund promoter activity concerning fund launches, liquidations, and mergers would show that the fund industry is in growth mode. However, there was only a slight increase in the number of funds in Europe—many French asset managers closed and merged funds domiciled in France with similar funds which they launched in Luxembourg and/or Ireland to support their cross-border fund sales

European Fund Industry Review Q1-2017 Looking at the headline figures, the first quarter of 2017 could be considered a good quarter for the European fund industry, since the assets under management (+€1.2 tr) hit an all-time high at the end of March. The European fund industry enjoyed net inflows of €210.5 bn over the course of first quarter 2017. Assets Under Management in the European Fund Industry The assets under management in the European fund industry increased from €9.4 tr to €10.6 tr over first quarter 2017. This increase was mainly driven by market performance (+€994.1 bn), while net sales

The chart below breaks down the European fund market by asset class as of the end of Q2 2016. Equity funds dominated the scene with a market share of 37% of the funds available for sale in Europe, followed by mixed-asset funds (28%), bond funds (21%), and money market funds (3%). The remaining 11% of “other” funds were real estate funds, commodity funds, guaranteed funds, and funds of hedge funds. Exhibit 1.  Market Share of Mutual Funds Registered for Sale in Europe by Asset Type as of the End of June 2016 Source: Lipper With regard to the overall number

Detlef Glow, Lipper's head of EMEA research, reviews the activity of the European mutual fund industry with regards to fund launches, mergers and liquidations over the course of Q1 2016.

Thomson Reuters Lipper's head of EMEA research analyze the activity in the European mutual fund industry with regards to fund mergers, closures and launches.

Even though the European mutual funds industry enjoyed overall net inflows of €317.7 billion into long-term mutual funds during the first nine months of 2014, it seems the industry was still in a consolidation mode at the product level. During third quarter 2014 the European fund industry created 429 new funds, but there were 324 funds liquidated and 318 merged during the same period. This meant the fund universe in Europe declined by 213 funds during the third quarter. For 2014 so far a total of 2,001 funds (1,163 liquidations and 838 mergers) were withdrawn from the European fund market,