Net inflows into UCITS also did not fare as well and tumbled to €13bn in December 2013, down from €18bn a month earlier in November.
The drop came on the back of large net outflows from money market funds and net withdrawals from bond funds during the month.
On the up side, net sales of long-term UCITS jumped to €31bn in December, compared to €21bn in November. Similarly, total net sales of non-UCITS also saw an uptick and rose to €18bn in December, due to increased sales of special funds, that is funds reserved to institutional investors.
“The year 2013 ended well with strong net sales of equity and balanced funds reflecting investors’ optimism about the world economy,” Bernard Delbecque, director of economics and research, said.
Highlights of 2013
Increased investor optimism, boosted by encouraging economic data and rising stock markets, marked a positive milestone for the European investment fund industry.
UCITS net sales rose 18% over the course of the year, reaching €229bn, compared to €194bn in 2012. Meanwhile long-term UCITS net sales increased over 38%, totalling €320bn compared to a total of €231bn in 2012.
However, money market funds reflected a tougher year and registered net outflows of €91bn, having registered net outflows of €37bn in the previous year.
“2013 was another difficult year for money market funds as historically low levels of short-term interest rates reduced very much the attractiveness of this fund type," Peter De Proft, director general, commented.
But on the whole, highly volatile stock markets during the first half of 2013 did not hold back a strong acceleration in the investor demand for equity and balanced funds.
“Bond funds continued to attract net new money, albeit significantly less than in 2012 because rising long-term interest rates and persistent uncertainty about bond market developments caused a significant slowdown of investor demand,” De Proft said.
