At the same time, US Federal Reserve policymakers began to raise interest rates above their previous record lows, also in anticipation of reflation.
Overall worldwide fund assets rose by 4.8% in the final quarter to reach €41.29trn (£35.7trn) by the end of last year.
In 2016 assets grew by 9.9% overall in a positive year for global asset managers in spite of macroeconomic developments such as Brexit.
However, overall net inflows of €1.2trn (£1trn) seen in 2016 were lower than the €1.6trn (£1.4trn) of sales seen in 2015.
