Assets under management and net inflows for Europe’s asset managers reached new heights in 2017, according to Morningstar.
Net inflows of €682.8bn for the year helped European-domiciled open-end funds to €8.9trn under management, up from €7.9trn in 2016.
This was largely thanks to fixed income products pulling in a record €288bn as investors sought higher-yielding assets. Managers also benefited from open-end equity funds reversing the net outflows of €57.5bn witnessed in 2016 to attract €106.9bn net.
Passive fund net inflows exceeded those in the active market for a fourth successive year at €104.5bn to €62.9bn, respectively.
The one area where active proved more popular than passive was fixed income where the market share of bond funds slightly improved to 12% from 11.8%, year-on-year.
Morningstar editorial research director for EMEA Ali Masarwah said: “As markets gave investors a smooth ride with no bouts of volatility rocking the boat, investors flocked to the fund market in 2017 highs.
“Both active and passive strategies saw record inflows throughout the year as a result, although we continued to see the trend of passive products increasing their market share.”
Masarwah added that it remains to be seen if the record year for fixed income will continue following January’s sell-off and the central bank planning to buy fewer bonds in 2018.
