Assets Under Management in the European Fund Industry The assets under management within the European fund industry increased within the volatile but positive market environment over the course of Q1 2023. Therefore, it is no surprise that assets under management for all product types with the exception of real estate funds have increased. In more detail, the assets under management in the European fund industry increased from €13,313.1 bn as of December 31, 2022, to €13,809.3 bn at the end of March 2023. Graph 1: Assets Under Management in the European Fund Industry, January 1, 2002 – March 31, 2023

It was somewhat surprising that February 2023 was in general a negative month for the European fund industry given the rather positive revisions of the economic outlooks for the major economies globally and a possible end of the interest hiking cycle of central banks. That said, mutual fund promoters (-€18.2 bn) faced outflows, while ETFs promoters (+€8.1 bn) enjoyed inflows. The outflows from actively managed funds were driven by outflows from money market products (-€18.8 bn). Within the current market environment, it is not surprising that European investors sold money market products since these products are considered as so-called safe-haven

2022 was a remarkable year for investors around the globe. Some may call it a year for the history books. Major economic and geopolitical headwinds resulted in falling equity and fixed income markets around the globe. In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, investors were concerned about the still-disrupted delivery chains and increasing inflation rates when the year 2022 started. All these concerns became overshadowed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine since this meant that investors had to rewrite their playbook for the year. The war in Ukraine led to increasing prices for energy and food, which fuelled the already increasing

The European fund industry enjoyed inflows over the course of January 2023 as the markets were further recovering. The generally positive market trend was driven by expectations of a possible end of the monetary policy tightening cycle by central banks around the globe and better than expected economic growth in the major economies, which would fuel company earnings. That said, the promoters of mutual funds (+€17.7 bn) and the promoters of ETFs (+€18.9 bn) enjoyed inflows. Within this market environment, it was not surprising that European investors sold money market products since these products are considered safe-haven investments. Therefore, one

Given the generally positive market environment over the course of October 2022, it was not surprising that the European fund industry enjoyed overall estimated inflows over the course of the month. That said, one needs to bear in mind that the geopolitical situation in Europe, the still ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, disrupted delivery chains, increasing interest rates triggered by high and in some cases still further increasing inflation rates are all impacting investor expectations. With regard to this, the estimated flows at the asset type level show that European investors are further in risk-off mode as long-term funds faced overall outflows,

Given the general market environment over the course of September 2022, it was not surprising that the European fund industry faced outflows over the course of the month. That said, one needs to bear in mind that the geopolitical situation in Europe, the still ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, disrupted delivery chains, an increasing inflation, and increasing interest rates are impacting the expectations of investors. In addition to this the market turmoil in the UK, the announcement of the so-called mini-budget at the end of September might have also contributed to the overall outflows from mutual funds and ETFs. The promoters of

Given the positive market environment over the course of July 2022, it was somewhat surprising that the European fund industry faced outflows over the course of the month. That said, one needs to bear in mind that the geopolitical situation in Europe, the still ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, disrupted delivery chains, an increasing inflation and increasing interest rates are impacting the expectations of the investors. The promoters of mutual funds (-€41.2 bn) and ETFs (-€0.4 bn) faced outflows. The outflows from ETFs were the first outflows from these products since March 2020. With regard to accelerating rise of inflation rates and

Assets Under Management in the European Fund Industry Given the current situation in the economies around the globe it was no surprise that the European fund industry faced declining assets under management over the course of the year 2022 so far, as the geopolitical situation in Europe, the still ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, disrupted delivery chains, increasing inflation, and interest rate hikes put some pressure on the securities markets. Within this environment the assets under management in the European fund industry decreased from €15.3 tr (as of December 31, 2021) to €13.3 tr at the end of Q2 2022. While ETFs

It was not surprising that May 2022 was in general a negative month for the European fund industry given the geopolitical situation in Europe, the still ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, disrupted delivery chains, and the sluggish market environment. That said, the promoters of mutual funds (-€32.3 bn) faced outflows, while the promoters of ETFs (+€2.5 bn) enjoyed inflows. Within this market environment and given the economic uncertainties, one would expect that European investors sold long-term funds and bought money market products. Therefore, it is somewhat surprising that European investors further sold money market products (-€6.5 bn) over the course of May

European investors were in general further in a risk-on mode over the course of November 2021. Given the volatile and sluggish general market environment it was somewhat surprising that November 2021 was a positive month for the European fund industry since mutual fund (+€64.1 bn) and ETF (+€13.5 bn) promoters enjoyed inflows. The overall flow pattern in Europe showed that investors continued to be in risk-on mode in November even as the general flow pattern was driven by inflows into money market products. In more detail, investors bought further into risky assets as long-term funds (+€45.3 bn) and money market

Despite the deteriorating situation with regard to the COVID-19 pandemic in some parts of Europe, February 2021 was another positive month for the European fund industry since the promoters of mutual funds (+€11.8 bn) and ETFs (+€17.5 bn) enjoyed inflows. The level of the overall flows was skewed by outflows from money market funds as investors in Europe returned to risk-on mode in February. At a closer look, investors bought into risky assets as long-term funds enjoyed estimated net inflows of €88.1 bn, while money market products faced estimated outflows of €58.8 bn. Equity funds (+€50.0 bn) were by far

European investors switched to a risk-off mode in March due to the global outbreak of the coronavirus and a possible recession caused by the lockdowns in a high number of countries around the world. As a result, investors faced an increased volatility on the global equity markets. Long-term mutual funds posted overall net outflows for the month. Commodity funds (+€2.2 bn) were the only asset type with net inflows for March. Conversely, bond funds (-€134.9 bn) faced the highest outflows overall, bettered by equity funds (-€48.9 bn), mixed-assets funds (-€38.7 bn), alternative UCITS funds (-€27.7 bn), real estate funds (-€1.5