Germany’s BVI has released its latest figures on assets under management (AUM) held by the country’s fund industry. According to the body, the number of assets being held has gone, for the first time in history, over €4tn.
Despite the impressive headline figure, the statistics show that not much has changed in the growth trend since 2018. Between then and 2019, AUM grew 14%; and, between 2019 and 2020, it grew another 13%. The H1 results from the end of 2020 show a roughly 6% increase, indicating a possible slowdown in growth.
According to the BVI, of the AUM held by German funds, “[…] €2,084bn is invested in open-ended Spezialfonds while open-ended retail funds account for €1,354bn, discretionary mandates account for €615bn and closed-ended funds make up €34bn”.
The open-ended retail funds, said the BVI, have had the highest inflows over the first part of 2021, leading by ‘a large margin’. After this, said the body, “Actively managed funds saw inflows of €19.4bn while equity ETFs took in €15.9bn. These are the strongest equity fund inflows in the first half of any year since 2000, when equity funds generated €42.7bn in inflows.”
The BVI went on: “However, a look at the relative new business shows that the result of the first six months 2000 remains extraordinary. After all, those inflows equate to 24% of the equity fund assets at the beginning of 2000 (€180bn). During the current year, they make up 8% of the assets as at the beginning of January (€459bn). At €576bn, equity funds are the largest retail fund segment in terms of volume, followed by balanced funds with €366bn.”
Sustainable funds made up 10% of AUM, but their net assets have seen considerable growth in recent years. At the end of March 2020, there was €107bn net assets in sustainable funds. This rose to €120bn by the end of June, then to €129bn by the end of September and €147bn by the end of December, but exploded to €335bn and €361bn by the ends of March and June 2021.
