We are pleased to send you EFAMA’s latest International Statistical Release with the worldwide investment fund industry results for the fourth quarter of 2015.
We would like to draw your attention to the main highlights in the Statistical Release:
1. Investment fund assets worldwide increased 5.9 percent during the fourth quarter of 2015 to EUR 36.94 trillion at year end 2015. The year asset growth reached 12 percent. In U.S. dollar terms, worldwide investment fund assets totaled USD 40.2 trillion at end 2015.
2. Worldwide net cash inflows increased in the fourth quarter to EUR 579 billion, up from EUR 230 billion in the third quarter, thanks to a strong rise in net sales of long-term funds.
3. Long-term funds (all funds excluding money market funds) recorded net inflows of EUR 364 billion during the fourth quarter, up from the EUR 49 billion registered in the previous quarter. Equity funds attracted net inflows of EUR 174 billion, up from EUR 78 billion in the third quarter. Bond funds registered net sales of EUR 32 billion, up from the outflows of EUR 21 billion in the previous quarter. Balanced funds registered net sales of EUR 120 billion, up from the outflows of EUR 33 billion in the third quarter.
4. Money market funds registered net inflows of EUR 215 billion during the fourth quarter, compared to EUR 181 billion in the third quarter of 2015.
5. Overall in 2015, worldwide investment funds attracted net sales of EUR 1,969 billion, up from EUR 1,532 billion in 2014.Worldwide long-term funds registered net inflows of EUR 1,602 billion in 2015, compared to EUR 1,379 billion in 2014.
6. At the end of 2015, assets of equity funds represented 40 percent and bond funds represented 20 percent of all investment fund assets worldwide. Of the remaining assets money market funds represented 13 percent and the asset share of balanced/mixed funds was 18 percent.
7. The market share of the ten largest countries/regions in the world market were the United States (48.4%), Europe (33.2%), Australia (3.8%), Japan (3.3%), China (3.1%), Canada (2.9%), Brazil (2.8%), Rep. of Korea (0.9%), India (0.4%) and South Africa (0.4%).
We will be distributing the release on 24 March 2016 to our media contacts and other parties that regularly receive our news releases. Feel free to circulate it to your media contacts or to post it on your website, however, not before Thursday.