Active bond fund flows take hit in Feb
Active bonds suffered €7bn in outflows along with active commodities and convertibles, hitting Europe’s asset management industry for the month of February.
Active bonds suffered €7bn in outflows along with active commodities and convertibles, hitting Europe’s asset management industry for the month of February.
Strong gains in US equity markets over the past year have encouraged investors to target the asset class in 2018, but while most prefer large cap funds it’s the small caps that have generated the better returns.
European small cap growth funds have outperformed rival fund categories over the last three years, and Finnish and Swedish fund selectors have led the pack in cashing in.
New Morningstar data shows that around 16% of European assets invested in funds were held in passive strategies in January 2018, much less than many had expected.
European-domiciled emerging market (EM) funds have seen a spectacular turnaround in fortunes at the start of 2018 with inflows up €14.5bn during January to reach a total €11.4bn of assets under management after there were €3bn of outflows in December, according to Morningstar data on global categories.
In the year of the dog shares of companies based on the Chinese mainland are set to emerge as leaders of the pack for investors in China as the world’s second largest economy enters the MSCI Emerging Markets Index in May. But European investors have already begun to move.
Across Europe absolute return strategies are the asset class most fund selectors wanted to buy even before the recent rise in volatility in bond and equity markets, although the Dutch are not particularly keen on the strategy.
European active equity funds saw a turnaround in net flows during 2017, enjoying a rise of €135.8bn in net new money to €62.7bn, after suffering an outflow of €73.1bn in 2016, according to Morningstar data.
Commodity-related investments delivered mixed results in 2017, failing to match the gains achieved in 2016. Morningstar analyst Fatima Khizou looks at which funds stand out in a sector that has some very experienced managers.
The net amount of money flowing into the European asset management industry is on course to hit a record level in 2017, thanks in part to strong demand for fixed income products, according to asset flows data compiled by Morningstar.
Morningstar’s sustainability ratings for funds do not always agree with what fund managers say.
Investors have been hiking their allocations to risky assets since Donald Trump was elected US president exactly a year ago. But has Trump had any role in driving these flows?