ETFs gathered more than twice the amount of inflows in the first two months of the year than mutual funds, according to estimates just released.
Promoters of ETFs saw €37.1 billion in net flows while mutual funds saw €16.7 billion of inflows, according to estimates from LSEG Lipper.
During February ETFs gathered net inflows of €16 billion while promoters of mutual funds suffered €5.9 billion of outflows.
Overall, bond products – with €31.4 billion of inflows – were the best-selling asset type in February and saw the highest estimated net inflows of €61.1 billion for 2024 so far.
Detlef Glow, head of Emea Research at LSEG Lipper, said market sentiment was driven by hopes that central banks—especially the US Federal Reserve—were reaching the last phase of their fight against inflation.
“That said the statements from the US Fed in January about a possible start of lowering interest rates might have caught some investors on the wrong foot, as the central bank indicated that it may start the lowering of interest rates later and with less steps in 2024 than some investors expected.
“It looks like this statement has not impacted the estimated inflows in bond ETFs.”
UBS was the best-selling fund promoter in Europe for February (+€7.4 billion), while HSBC (+€10.1 billion) is the best-selling fund promoter in Europe for 2024 so far.
