Bond funds scooped up three-quarters of the €50 billion in net new money that flowed into long-term funds in Europe in the first quarter, according to data firm Morningstar.
Much of the money went to bond-heavy houses, with Pimco gaining €5.5 billion and BlackRock gaining €3 billion in the first quarter. But the greatest inflows went to BNP Paribas, which gathered €7.6 billion in the three months, making it the firm’s best quarter since 2009.
“A global bond boom is on,” said Dan Lefkovitz from Morningstar’s European research team. “But recent European flows to bond funds should not be interpreted as a vote of confidence in the eurozone. Investors are clearly differentiating between troubled governments and profitable corporations, and between the indebted West and cash-flush emerging markets.”
Long-term equity funds gained a comparatively small €2 billion in net new assets in the first quarter, with emerging market and income-oriented funds the most popular.
©2012 funds europe
