Inflows in European equities, by far the most popular asset class among fund selectors in Europe, were only slightly higher than those into mutual funds investing in US-listed companies, Lipper data show.
Beyond the macro
Net flows into US equity funds amounted to €11.3bn in January and February alone, almost half the total flows in the whole of 2013, despite US valuations having gone up considerably during the past two years. “Investors look beyond the macro picture of the market now, and focus on individual companies instead”, says Jean-François Hautemulle, head of product selection for JP Morgan Asset Management.
Market split
The same story goes for European equities, which have topped European investors’ buying list for the past year. European investors poured in €11.5bn into the asset class. While many of them seem to believe there is further upside within the developed equity markets, an increasing number of them is preparing for market turbulence as well. Investments in mutual funds employing long-short strategies are exploding. In the first two months of the year, inflows reached €5.8bn, compared to €6.8bn for the whole of 2013. Multi-asset funds, a hit in 2013, also remain popular, with €6.7bn of inflows.
