Some investors may get confused in investment conversations about portfolios which contain more than one asset type (bonds, cash, commodities, equities, precious metals, etc.) because some refer to such a portfolio as a mixed-assets portfolio while others call the same portfolio a multi-asset portfolio. So, what is the difference between these two fund types? Generally speaking, mixed-assets funds have a long history as one-stop asset allocation products for all investors since these funds invest in a given mixture of bonds and equities (in some cases these funds also have a small bucket for gold). That said, the classic conservative (up

December was the twelfth consecutive month showing a positive picture for long-term mutual funds. European fund promoters enjoyed net inflows into mixed-asset funds (+€8.7 bn), followed by bond funds (+€7.6 bn), alternative UCITS funds (+€3.4 bn), equity funds (+€2.4 bn), and real estate funds (+€0.5 bn). Meanwhile commodity funds (-€0.01 bn) and “other” funds (-€0.8 bn) faced net outflows. These fund flows added up to overall net inflows of €21.7 bn into long-term investment funds for December. ETFs contributed €4.7 bn to these inflows. Money Market Products Money market products (-€19.5 bn) were the asset type with the highest net

Even though the topic of proper classification of mixed-asset funds doesn’t sound like a point of particular interest, it has raised issues for fund promoters, fund selectors, and investors alike. It gathered a lot of interest during the ”Petersberger Treffen,” a conference organized by the German consultant Drescher&Cie in Cologne on December 7, 2017. Once upon a time – funds were simply constructed In the good old days of the investment industry the life of fund selectors and investors was much easier, since equity funds invested straightforwardly in equities—as did their fixed income peers with bonds. Even mixed-asset funds were

The German asset manager Flossbach von Storch (FvS) was one of the major winners of the group awards during the Thomson Reuters Lipper Fund Awards 2017; the company not only won the mixed-asset large category for Europe, but it also won this award for Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. In addition, it was a topic of interest that FvS has moved from the small-asset manager category to the large-asset manager category in 2017. FvS showed an impressive growth story over the past eight years, mainly driven by its flagship product–Flossbach von Storch Multiple Opportunities R (LU0323578657). During a meeting in Cologne, where FvS