Excluding money market funds, €220.7bn was invested in cross-border funds last year, contributing 45% of European fund assets, €2.7trn in real terms.
Cross-border equity funds saw inflows increase to €11.3bn in the last month of the year, taking the annual total to €23.2bn and reflecting the universal uptick in equity funds.
However, the report warns that this is not necessarily the sign of a turn-around in the fortunes of equity funds.
Ed Moisson, author of the report, wrote: “Clearly there was a pick-up in sales of equity funds in December (to €13.1bn) but so far one can identify small oscillations rather than a great rotation in evidence among European investors”
Bond funds attracted the largest total sales on record, €225.2bn, and December’s total €19.4bn was above the 2012 monthly average of €18.8bn.
Success elsewhere
Emerging markets came back into favour during December, with inflows into emerging markets bonds and equities reaching €4.2bn and €5.9bn respectively. Flows into High Yield bond funds remained healthy at €4.1bn despite the increased appetite for equities.
Three groups generated sales in excess of €10bn over the course of the year. Pimco’s inflows were worth €35.1bn, Axa’s €24bn and BlackRock attracted €14.8bn. Nine groups generated net sales of over €1bn in December, a reflection of more buoyant market activity.
