28 associations representing more than 99 percent of total UCITS and AIF assets provided us with net sales data.
The main developments in February 2016 can be summarized as follows:
- Net outflows from UCITS slowed to EUR 0.4 billion, compared to outflows of EUR 15 billion in January. The decrease in net outflows can be attributed to an increase in money market fund net sales.
- Long-term UCITS (UCITS excluding money market funds) registered a slowdown in net outflows, decreasing from outflows of EUR 14 billion in January to outflows of EUR 9 billion in February. Equity funds registered net outflows of EUR 4 billion, down from net inflows of EUR 3 billion in February. Net outflows from bond funds slowed from EUR 15 billion in January to outflows of EUR 6 billion in February. Multi-asset funds finished the quarter with net sales of EUR 1 billion, up from net outflows of EUR 2 billion in January.
- UCITS money market funds experienced a reversal in flows, increasing from net outflows of EUR 1 billion in January to net inflows of EUR 9 billion in February.
- Total AIF registered net inflows of EUR 8.9 billion in February, down from EUR 15.6 billion in January.
- Net assets of UCITS ended the month at EUR 7,891 billion, representing a decrease of 0.4 percent in net assets since January. AIF net assets increased 0.1 percent to EUR 5,035 since end February. Overall, total net assets of the European investment fund industry decreased 0.2 percent since January to stand at EUR 12,926 billion at end February 2016.
The stock market sell-off in early 2016 caused UCITS equity funds to suffer net outflows of EUR 4 billion in February, or 0.14 percent of total UCITS equity fund assets. Overall, UCITS and AIF recorded positive net sales of EUR 8 billion in February. This confirms that many investors are willing to hold to their investment positions in periods of market stress.
