Worldwide Mutual Fund Assets Relatively Unchanged in 1Q05

August 17, 2005 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Worldwide mutual fund assets were $16.13 trillion in the first quarter of 2005, practically the same as the $16.16 trillion reported for the fourth quarter of 2004.

The Investment Company Institute’s (ICI’s) report on worldwide fund flows attributes the stability of assets to flat stock market performance in the United States and the appreciation of the dollar causing growth in assets reported in US dollars to be muted.   According to ICI, many of the 41 countries that make up its statistics reported an increase in assets measured in local currency.   Mutual fund assets in Europe on a Euro-denominated basis rose 4.9%.

Equity funds worldwide reported $103 billion in inflows during 1Q05, slightly up from the $100 billion reported inflows in 4Q04.   The amount of inflows for the Americas was $51 billion, while Europe and the Asia/Pacific and Africa regions had net inflows of $37 billion and $15 billion respectively.

Assets of balanced/mixed funds, which make up 9% of the mutual funds reported on, also were relatively unchanged since 4Q04.   This asset type reported net inflows of $11billion.

Bond funds were the biggest winners worldwide, reporting $99 billion in net cash flows, more than double the $43 billion reported for 4Q04.   The Americas, Europe, and South Africa reported inflows to bond funds in 1Q05, while the Asia and Pacific region reported outflows, according to ICI statistics.

Money market funds were the only asset type to report net outflows for the quarter ($21 billion).   The biggest outflows occurred in the Americas, with the US reporting net outflows of $43 billion for money market funds.   The outflows were offset by inflows reported for all other regions.

class=”normal-1″> The number of mutual funds worldwide at the end of 1Q05 was 54,702.   Forty two percent were equity funds, 24% were bond funds, 20% were balanced/mixed funds, and 7% were money market funds.

class=”normal-1″> The full report from ICI can be found  here .

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