Net sales of UCITS and AIFs fell by 69 per cent to EUR42 billion in February, according to the latest monthly Investment Fund Industry Fact Sheet from the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA).EFAMA’s monthly fact sheet, which provides net sales data of UCITS and AIFs, showed a slump in total sales from a previous EUR137 billion in January, with decreases seen across all products and asset classes.
Bernard Delbecque, senior director for economics and research, comments: “Despite a turnaround in flows experienced by equity funds, net sales of UCITS and AIFs remained positive in February, as the Covid-19 crisis only broke out at the very end of the month. After a strong start to the year, the industry has entered a challenging environment as markets fell and investors’ confidence started to vanish.”
In February, UCITS recorded net inflows of EUR25 billion, compared to EUR108 billion in January 2020. Long-term UCITS (UCITS excluding money market funds) recorded EUR29 billion of net sales, under half of January’s takings.
UCITS money market funds recorded net outflows of EUR4 billion, compared to inflows of EUR48 billion in January.
Meanwhile, the report also showed that equity funds registered net outflows of EUR4 billion, compared to net inflows of EUR 17 billion in the previous month.
Sales of bond funds fell to EUR25 billion from EUR30 billion, and multi-asset funds saw inflows of EUR8 billion, compared to EUR11 billion in January.
AIFs recorded net inflows of EUR17 billion, down from EUR29 billion in January 2020, while the total net assets of UCITS and AIFs slid by 2.9 per cent to EUR17,519 billion.
