The European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA) has published its latest Quarterly Statistical Release, which has reported a dive in European net sales of UCITS and Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs), due to uncertainty about trade policy and international relations.
The release described the trends in the European investment fund industry in the second quarter and first half of 2018 with key data and indicators for each EFAMA member country.
UCITS and AIFs recorded net sales of €28 billion in Q2 2018, compared to €222 billion in Q1.
Multi-asset funds and other funds registered net inflows of €25 billion and €30 billion, respectively.
Equity, bond and money market funds recorded net outflows of €0.3 billion, €7 billion and €19 billion, respectively.
UCITS registered net sales of €15 billion in Q2 2018, compared to €171 billion in Q1.
Long-term UCITS (UCITS excluding money market funds), recorded net inflows of €33 billion in Q2, while multi-asset and equity funds attracted net sales of €26 billion and €10 billion, respectively.
AIFs net sales amounted to €12 billion in Q2 2018, down from €52 billion in Q1.
Equity funds, bond funds and multi-asset funds recorded net outflows of €10 billion, €6 billion and €1 billion, respectively.
Total European investment fund net assets increased by 1.6 percent in Q2 2018 to reach €15,788 billion at end June.
Net assets of UCITS increased by 1.5 percent to €9,824 billion, while net assets of AIFs increased by 1.6 percent to €5,965 billion.
During the first half of 2018, UCITS and AIFs attracted net sales of €250 billion, compared to EUR 514 billion in the same period last year.
Bernard Delbecque, senior director for Economics and Research at EFAMA, commented: “Following a good start of the year, net sales of UCITS and AIF plunged during the second quarter as a result of growing volatility in the financial markets and increased uncertainty and concerns about trade policy and international relations.”
