Investing August 3, 2006

Mutual Fund Assets Swell to More than $19T in Q1

August 3, 2006 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Mutual fund assets worldwide increased 7.5% to $19.11 trillion at the end of the first quarter of 2006, up from $17.77 trillion the quarter before, according to the Investment Company Institute (ICI).
Reported by

class=”normal-1″> First-quarter long-term fund flows were higher for all asset categories and all regions compared to the fourth quarter of 2005, ICI data shows.

class=”normal-1″> Equity fund assets represented the biggest portion of all worldwide mutual fund assets at 48%. Bond fund assets represented a 19% share; money market funds, 18% and balanced/mixed fund assets, 9%.

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class=”normal-1″> Net cash flow to all funds worldwide accelerated, reaching $437 billion in the first quarter of 2006, with long-term funds more than doubling in the first quarter, hitting $409 billion. Equity fund flows worldwide increased to $246 billion in the first quarter, compared with $160 billion in the fourth quarter.

class=”normal-1″> The Americas reported net inflows to equity funds of $102 billion in the first quarter, Europe reported net inflows of $100 billion, and the Asia/Pacific and African regions accounted for $45 billion of net inflows.

class=”normal-1″> Net flows to bond funds registered inflows of $65 billion in the first quarter of 2006 following outflows in the fourth quarter. Net flows to bond funds in the Americas were $51 billion in the first quarter, up from $14 billion in the fourth quarter, whereas as European bond funds posted inflows of $27 billion. However, the Asia/Pacific region experienced outflows of $13 billion.

class=”normal-1″> Money market funds slowed in the first quarter to $28 billion after reaching $81 billion in the fourth quarter of 2005. Money market fund flows outside the US actually boosted to $23 billion in the first quarter, compared to an outflow of $28 billion in the quarter before.

class=”normal-1″> Balanced fund flows more than doubled in the first quarter, hitting $73 billion compared to $34 billion in the fourth quarter. The increase was nearly all attributable to Europe, where net inflows climbed from $19 billion in the fourth quarter to $57 billion in the first quarter.

class=”normal-1″> ICI charts and data can be viewed here .

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