The firm’s weekly fund data showed investors piling $10bn into bond funds, taking the asset classes year-to-date inflows to over $400bn.
“While US President Barack Obama was promising ‘the best is yet to come’ in the wake of his re-election victory on 6 November, investors were acting as if the worst is far from over,” EPFR Global said.
Money market funds also saw $50bn of inflows, a clear indication of a return to risk aversion, while equity funds attracted only $1.12bn.
Dividend equity funds continued to be a firm favourite, absorbing over $900m in net new assets despite implications that Obama’s victory has for their taxation in the US.
Bond fund inflows were double those seen the preceding week, with US bond funds posting their biggest inflows since the second quarter and global bond funds witnessing their best week since mid-2011.
“With seven weeks of the year remaining, bond funds are collectively well into record-setting territory when it comes to attracting fresh money. At the fund group level high yield, US and mortgaged backed bond funds have already surpassed the previous full year record totals, while emerging market bond funds remain on track to do so,” EPFR Global concluded.
