The German fund industry has gained assets under management worth €4,289 billion as of March 31, 2024, marking a 9% increase from the previous year, according to data from the German funds association, BVI.
This growth brings the industry close to its all-time high of €4,311 billion at the end of 2021, shared the data providers.
Equity funds represented the largest group within the open-ended retail funds category, accounting for €680 billion. Over the past five years, their share has risen from 36% to 47%, largely driven by rising stock prices. Balanced funds and bond funds followed, with assets of €350 billion and €217 billion, respectively, though their shares have decreased.
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Bond funds have topped the sales list, with new business totalling €5.4 billion in the first quarter of 2024, primarily driven by funds focusing on short-term bonds. Equity funds also performed well, attracting €2.5 billion, while capital-protected funds saw inflows of €1.2 billion. Conversely, balanced funds continued to experience outflows, with €4.5 billion withdrawn in the same period.
Open-ended Spezialfonds, primarily designed for institutional investors such as retirement benefit schemes and insurance companies, saw a net inflow of €9.5 billion in the first quarter of 2024. The outsourcing of portfolio management for Spezialfonds is widespread, with 45% of securities fund assets managed by external asset managers. This trend is also growing for property Spezialfonds, where external managers now handle 35% of assets, up from 26% in 2018.
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The overall net inflow into the fund industry in Germany for the first quarter of 2024 was €21.7 billion. Open-ended retail funds attracted €3.8 billion, while ETFs contributed €5.4 billion, predominantly from equity ETFs.
