European long-term funds see €46bn of inflows in H1 2024

Long-term funds gained EUR 24.5 billion of inflows in June, with equity funds attracting half of this, according to Morningstar's latest Asset Flow Commentary: Europe for June and the first half-year of 2024.

Long-term funds experienced  €146.8bn of net inflows over H1 this year, while iShares topped the rankings of asset-gatherers in June. BlackRock, Credit Suisse, and Handelsbanken were the biggest laggards of the month.

Europe-domiciled long-term funds experienced EUR 24.5 billion of net inflows in June 2024 and EUR 146.8 billion in the first half of the year.

Equity funds confirmed their momentum, attracting EUR 12.3 billion of net inflows in the month. However, active equity strategies returned to experiencing net outflows.

Fixed-income strategies had EUR 18.5 billion of net inflows in June and almost EUR 166 billion in the first half of the year, the third-best half-year ever recorded.

On the other hand, allocation and alternative funds continued to bleed assets, with EUR 5.6 billion and EUR 108 million of net outflows in the month, respectively.

Long-term funds classified as Article 8 had EUR 11.5 billion of net inflows in June. Conversely, Article 9 products shed EUR 2.8 billion.

Assets in long-term funds domiciled in Europe increased to EUR 11.904 trillion by month's end from EUR 11.666 trillion at the end of May.

Valerio Baselli, senior international dditor, Morningstar, and author of the report commented: “June was the second best month for long-term European funds inflows in 2024 so far, with EUR 24.5 billion pouring into them, amounting to EUR 146.8 billion of net inflows for H1 2024. This positive sentiment was likely driven by hopes of interest-rate cuts and positive macro data on economic growth.”

“Bond funds attracted EUR 18.5 billion of net new subscriptions in June, the 19th month of positive flows out of the last 20. Both active and passive strategies saw EUR 14.4 billion and EUR 4.1 billion of net inflows, respectively. With 165.8 billion of net inflows, fixed-income strategies had their third best half-year on record in terms of flows after H1 2017 and H2 2019.”

Other takeaways included:
• Global large-cap blend equity was again the top-selling Morningstar Category in the month, followed by US large-cap blend equity categories.
• On the other hand, UK large-cap equity funds saw the highest net outflows at the category level (EUR 2.8 billion), followed by global large-cap growth equity funds (EUR 2 billion of net redemptions).
• Last month, iShares topped the rankings of asset-gatherers, followed by Vanguard and J.P. Morgan. BlackRock, Credit Suisse, and Handelsbanken were the biggest laggards of the month.
• Mercer Passive Global Equity CCF had inflows of EUR 2.4 billion in June, while Royal London UK Core Equity Tilt Fund had EUR 1.5 billion in net redemptions.
• Money market funds had EUR 28.8 billion in net inflows.