27 associations representing more than 99.6 percent of total UCITS and non-UCITS assets at end April 2015 provided us with net sales and/or net assets data. The main developments in April 2015 in the reporting countries can be summarized as follows:
- Net sales of UCITS increased to EUR 83 billion in April, up from EUR 69 billion in March, as all fund categories attracted net new money during the month.
- Long-term UCITS (UCITS excluding money market funds) continued to register large net inflows (EUR 66 billion), albeit lower than in March (EUR 71 billion). Bond funds posted reduced net sales of EUR 22 billion compared to EUR 26 billion March. Equity funds experienced a turnaround in net flows to register inflows of EUR 6 billion, against net outflows of EUR 3 billion in March. Balanced funds registered net inflows of EUR 29 billion, down from EUR 39 billion in March.
- Money market funds registered a turnaround in net sales in March to post net inflows of EUR 16 billion, compared to net outflows of EUR 2 billion in March.
- Total non-UCITS net sales amounted to EUR 16 billion, compared to EUR 18 billion in March. Net sales of special funds (funds reserved to institutional investors) recorded a second consecutive month of net inflows of EUR 12 billion.
- Total net assets of UCITS stood at EUR 9,036 billion at end April 2015, representing a 0.4 percent increase during the month. Total net assets of non-UCITS decreased 0.2 percent to stand at EUR 3,541 billion at month end. Overall, total net assets of the European investment fund industry stood at EUR 12,577 billion at end April 2015.
Demand for long-term UCITS remained robust in April as the economic outlook for Europe improved following the launch of quantitative easing by the ECB.
