Dutch investment funds saw outflows of nearly €20bn in the second quarter of the year as a result of asset depreciation and institutional investors adjusting their portfolios.
Data from the Dutch central bank and financial regulator De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) showed that, after increasing for four quarters, the Dutch investment funds’s total net assets declined by around 4.5% in the second quarter of 2010.
As at the end of June, total net assets stood at €417bn, the DNB said.
The re-valuation of investments held in the Dutch funds led to a depreciation of more than €8bn. This was primarily due to a loss of approximately 4% on investments in equities. The MSCI World index and the AEX fell even more sharply, by 12% percent and 8% percent, respectively.
The DNB said: “The funds’ losses on share investment remained limited owing to the appreciation of the US dollar on the Euro. As some funds had hedged the currency risk, they did incur losses on forward foreign exchange contracts. Just as in the previous quarter, bond investment recorded a positive result of 1.7%, with corporate bonds doing better than government bonds.”
Statistics gathered by the regulator showed that in the second quarter, over €11bn was withdrawn from investment funds, reflecting several major institutional investors’ policy to adjust their investment portfolio.
©2010 funds europe
