Investor fears about heavily indebted peripheral Eurozone markets and uncertainty about the willingness of China to sacrifice growth in order to keep prices in check meant major fund groups struggled to attract new money in mid-November, according to data firm EPFR Global.
EPFR-tracked global equity funds, which collectively posted their biggest inflow in over 22 months the previous week, were hit with redemptions totaling $5.6bn in the following week (up to Wednesday 17) although they still posted inflows. Meanwhile, the $2.5bn removed from bond funds was their worst week for fund flows in almost two years.
Only three major equity fund groups, Asia ex-Japan, Global and EMEA Equity Funds, managed to post inflows during the week ending November 17. Global Emerging Markets (GEM), Latin America and Europe Equity Funds saw inflow streaks of 24, 14 and seven weeks snapped while outflows from US Equity Funds hit a 13-week high.
All Emerging Market Equity Funds combined, however, posted inflows for the week and extended year to date flows to $81.9bn, within a whisker of last year’s $83.3bn inflow record.
Global Bond Funds posted outflows for the first time in 24 weeks. In contrast to May, when bond funds last experienced weekly net outflows, there was no rush to park cash in the perceived safety of Money Market Funds: they recorded modest outflows totaling $5.06bn for the week.
©2010 funds europe
