The total is a 46% under the Q1 fund launch peak which occurred in 2010 according to data provided by Lipper, and is 14% below the number for the same period last year.
A total 600 funds were withdrawn from the market in the quarter, further evidence of consolidation in the European fund market. Mergers accounted for 204 of the withdrawals while 396 funds were liquidated.
The number of liquidations also hit a five year low and was 30% below the peak of 566 in Q1 2009, and 20% below the same period last year. Mergers remained consistent; 205 had been reported in Q1 2012.
The figures mark the ninth consecutive quarter of net decline in the size of the European fund market. Growth troughed in the second quarter of 2012 when the total number of products in market fell by 458.
The breakdown of market exits by asset class during Q1 2013 is shown in the graph below.
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Earlier this week we reported redemptions from two Close Brother mandates had been suspended ahead of a wrap-up, while earlier in the year Neptune closed four funds due to the diseconomies of running them.
