Europe-domiciled long-term funds see €1bn of net inflows in March 2024

Europe-domiciled long-term funds experienced €1bn of net inflows in March 2024 and €52.3bn in the first quarter, according to Morningstar's European Asset Flows data and commentary for March 2024 published today (18 April).

Valerio Baselli, senior international editor, Morningstar said: “Following a good start of the year, equity funds have returned to negative territory, shedding EUR 3.5 billion in March. However, reaffirming investor faith in passive over active strategies, this was a one-sided story with passive equity funds taking in EUR 9.9 billion of net inflows in the month.

"We see continued resilience in bonds, with March being the 16th month of positive flows out of the last 17, collecting EUR 16.3 billion last month. In contrast to equity funds, for the first time since June 2022, passive bond funds experienced net outflows in March.”

Further key takeaways include:

• Equity funds returned to negative territory after their inflows in January and February, shedding EUR 3.5 billion. It was a one-sided story with passive equity funds taking in EUR 9.9 billion of net inflows in the month.
• Fixed-income strategies continued their momentum, with EUR 16.3 billion of net inflows. March was the 16th month of positive flows out of the last 17.
• On the other hand, allocation and alternative funds continued to bleed assets with EUR 7.5 billion and EUR 2.6 billion of net outflows in the month, respectively.
• Long-term funds classified as Article 8 had EUR 2.1 billion of net inflows in March. Conversely, Article 9 products shed EUR 1.4 billion.
• Global large-cap blend equity was again the top-selling Morningstar Category in the month, followed by the EUR corporate bond and fixed-term bond categories.

• On the other hand, global bond GBP hedged funds saw the highest net outflows at the category level (EUR 3.3 billion), followed by Europe large-cap equity funds (EUR 2.6 billion of net redemptions).
• Last month, iShares topped the rankings of asset-gatherers, followed by HSBC and Pimco. State Street, State Street Managed Pension Funds, and Credit Suisse were the biggest laggards of the month.
• Pimco GIS Income Fund had inflows of EUR 2.0 billion in March, while Global Aggregate Bond Index Sub-Fund had EUR 3.6 billion in net redemptions.
• Money market funds gathered EUR 9.9 billion in net inflows.
• Assets in long-term funds domiciled in Europe increased to EUR 11.514 trillion by month's end from EUR 11.335 trillion at the end of February.