Bond fund sales were roughly the same, totalling €217bn in Europe and €228.5bn in the US, according to data provided by Lipper.
The figures exclude money market funds, but even when included, total mutual fund sales in the US were just €14bn higher in the US than in Europe, at €182.5bn compared to €168.8bn.
The US is estimated to manage around half of global funds under management, while the European industry accounts for about one-third.
Outflows from US equities totalled €82.2bn in the US, compared to a more modest €16.9bn in Europe.
Cross border
Among the largest cross border groups, 26% of assets are sourced from investors based in countries outside of Europe. Cross-border funds now account for 42% of European industry assets, double the proportion in 2001 (21%).
Cross border funds also attracted the second largest amount on record in 2012, €220.7bn. Interest in these funds has remained strong in 2013 as sales of cross border equity funds for the first four months of the year reached €23.3.
10-year winners
In terms of average annual sales over the past decade, PIMCO tops the list with an average €8,668m per year. There were three PIMCO funds in the top five best-selling bond funds of 2012, the Total Return Bond Fund, the Global Investment Grade Credit Fund and the Diversified Income Fund.
Franklin Templeton and BlackRock take the second and third position over the ten-year period, each with average sales of just under €8bn, €7824m and €7797m respectively. BlackRock’s IS Emerging Markets Index Fund was the third most popular equity fund in 2012, attracting inflows of €2.4bn.
Earlier in the week we reported fixed income sales reached a record high in April as equities registered outflows for the first time since August 2012.
