On April 11, 2000, the first two exchange-traded funds (ETF) based on the EURO STOXX 50 and the STOXX Europe 50 were listed on Deutsche Börse in Germany. With this listing, Merrill Lynch International brought a product to Europe which had been established in the U.S. since 1993. In addition to Germany, the trading of ETFs also began in Sweden, Switzerland, and the U.K. over the course of the year 2000. Even as the first reactions to these new products were positive, no one at that time really expected the future success that ETFs would experience. The following is a

The European fund industry witnessed overall outflows over the course of September 2023. These outflows occurred in a further unstable market environment in which some asset classes nevertheless showed positive results while others performed negatively. The market sentiment was still driven by hopes that central banks—especially the U.S. Federal Reserve—may have reached the last phase of its fight against high and further increasing inflation rates and may, therefore, start to keep interest rates at least stable quite soon. Some investors already think there might be room for decreasing interest rates later this year, which might be reflected by the estimated

As April 11, 2023, marks the twenty-third birthday of the European ETF industry, we took the chance to congratulate the industry and to publish our annual ETF Yearbook which reviews the trends in the European ETF industry and the wider ecosystem over the course of the year 2022. Even as the past 22 years were a real success story for the European ETF industry, the future does also look very bright, as I forecast in my market outlook that the assets under management in the European ETF industry will double to €2.5 tr before the end of 2030. Other topics

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

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 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

It was not surprising that Q1 2022 was in general a negative quarter for the European fund industry given the geopolitical situation in Europe, the still ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and the sluggish market environment. 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 sold money market products, which are normally considered safe-haven investments, while long-term products enjoyed overall inflows. In more detail, long-term funds enjoyed estimated net inflows of €25.0 bn, while money market products faced estimated net

European investors were further in a risk-on mode over the course of August. Given the general market environment it was no surprise that August 2021 was another positive month for the European fund industry since the promoters of mutual funds (+€63.4 bn) and ETFs (+€9.8 bn) enjoyed inflows. The overall flow pattern in Europe showed that investors continued to be in risk-on mode in August despite high inflows into money market products. In more detail, investors bought further into risky assets as long-term funds (+€59.5 bn) enjoyed the highest inflows, while money market products (+€13.8 bn) also enjoyed estimated net

The European fund industry enjoyed estimated net inflows of €199.9 bn over the course of the first three quarters of 2019. These inflows follow the first year with estimated net outflows since 2011. These inflows occurred in a volatile but positive market environment driven by discussions of a possible trade war between the U.S. and China, an unclear situation around Brexit, and a general economic slowdown with decreasing earnings at the company level. Nevertheless, since the equity markets showed double digit returns over the course of 2019 so far, one would expect to see net inflows into mutual funds. That

After strong outflows from equity funds in August, it appears quantitative easing by the European Central Bank (ECB) and the interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve have led European investors back to equities in September. This comes despite ongoing concerns about declining company earnings and the possible effects of a trade war between the U.S. and China. As a result, September was the seventh month during which long-term mutual funds posted net inflows this year. Equity funds (+€14.3 bn) were the best-selling asset type in the segment of long-term mutual funds, followed by bond funds (+€9.7 bn), mixed-assets funds