Investment fund assets increased by 6.5 per cent to almost €17trn by the end of Q1 2010, according to statistics released by the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA).

At the end of 2009, asset values stood at €15.9trn, but increased to €16.96trn thanks to inflows.

Net inflows to long-term funds rose to €249bn in the first quarter, from €222bn in Q4 2009, made up of equity, bond and balanced funds with net inflows of €54bn, €122bn and €37bn respectively. The past year has seen net flows into long-term funds average at €246bn per quarter.

Outflows from money market funds more than doubled in the first quarter, to €294bn from €139bn in the previous quarter.

Worldwide investment funds had net outflows of €45bn, which EFAMA attributed to the sharp rise in the net outflows from money market funds that offset net inflows into long-term funds. The past year has seen worldwide investment funds net flows average at €49bn per quarter.

Equity funds assets accounted for 40 per cent of all investment fund assets worldwide at the end of March 2010 – the asset share of bond funds was 20 per cent, and of balanced/mixed funds was ten per cent. Money market fund assets represented 21 per cent of the worldwide total.

When taking non-UCITS funds into account, Europe’s market share reached 35.9 per cent at the end of March 2010, and the US accounted for 44.8 per cent. Excluding non-UCITS, Europe’s share decreased to 30.8 per cent.

The report features statistics from 43 countries, and was compiled by EFAMA and the Investment Company Institute on behalf of the International Investment Funds Association.

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