The US fund manager attracted €35.1bn into long-term funds during the course of the year €11bn more than second place Axa (with €24bn), while BlackRock came in third with €14.8bn.
This took Pimco’s average annual sales in the past ten years to €8.7bn, the most of any asset manager, while three of its funds made the top five best-selling bond funds in 2012.
The funds were the $34bn Pimco GIS Total Return Bond Fund, the $22bn Global Investment Grade Credit Fund and the $7.3bn Diversified Income Fund.
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The AllianceBernstein American Income Portfolio was the biggest selling bond fund in 2012, attracting €8.2m in sales during the year.
Cross-border funds, those that generate more than 20% of their assets from a second market, now account for almost half of European industry assets, Lipper said. Inflows into these funds reached €220.7bn in 2012, the second highest level on record.
Cross boarder equity fund inflows increased in the latter third of the year, and the annual total reached €23.3bn.
Wider Perspective
European fund assets account for around a third of global AUM, compared to the US which manages roughly half. However, bond fund sales in the two regions were similar during 2012, totalling €217bn in Europe and €228.5bn in the US. When looking at long term funds only, European sales outstripped those of US mutual funds, €212.2bn compared to €175.1bn. Equity outflows were much lower in Europe too, €16.9bn versus €82.2bn in the US.
