Investors continued to plough cash into money market funds (MMFs) in the first quarter of 2014, statistics from the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA) show.
MMFs registered a third consecutive quarter of net inflows during the first quarter of €21bn, compared with €36bn in the fourth quarter of 2013. Large net outflows in the US of €61bn were outweighed by the net inflows in Europe of €14bn and Asia-Pacific of €67bn.
Meanwhile, longer-term funds (all funds excluding MMFs) registered even larger net inflows at the start of the year. They recorded net inflows of €271bn during the first quarter, up from €193bn in the previous quarter.
At the end of the first quarter, the assets of equity funds represented 40% and bond funds represented 22% of all investment fund assets worldwide. The asset share of MMFs was 14% and the asset share of balanced/mixed funds was 12%.
Sally Percy is editor of The Treasurer