Flows out of equity, bond, and money market funds saw UCITS experience net outflows of €9.4 billion in March, according to the latest European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA) statistics.

The association’s latest monthly fund industry fact sheet shows equity funds saw net outflows of €11bn, a turnaround from net inflows of €4bn in February.

Bond funds recorded net outflows just under breakeven point, after recording net inflows of €4bn in February, while money market funds saw net outflows of €6bn, down from inflows of €7.6bn in February. EFAMA attributed the reversal partly to end-of-quarter withdrawals.

Meanwhile, long-term UCITS - UCITS excluding money market funds - suffered their first net outflows in March since May last year, at €3bn, well down on inflows of €19bn recorded February.

In commentary accompanying the fact sheet, EFAMA cited extraordinary events such as ongoing unrest in North Africa and the Middle East, uncertainties surrounding the aftermath of Japan’s earthquake, and the tensions in oil prices and sovereign debt markets as troubling investors in March.

Total non-UCITS recorded a slight decline in net sales from €9bn in February to €7bn in March, which EFAMA said reflected a reduced level of net inflows into special funds reserved to institutional investors.

Total assets of UCITS amounted to €5.83 trillion at end March 2011, a decrease of 1.4 per cent since end February. Total assets of non-UCITS also decreased slightly month-on-month by 0.3 per cent to stand at €1,956 trillion.

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