More net new money flowed into European long-term funds in January than in any month since 2006, a sign of powerful optimism among investors.
American firms had the highest inflows. Californian bond specialist Pimco, which is owned by Allianz, led the way with €4.1 billion of net sales in the month, followed by the industry leader by assets under management, BlackRock, with €3.7 billion. Franklin Templeton Investments, which also has its headquarters in California, came third with €3.5 billion.
In all, data provider Lipper tracked €54 billion of net inflows into European funds, excluding money market funds. The last time more net money flowed into European funds in a month was January 2006, more than a year before the US subprime mortgage industry collapsed, taking with it the world economy.
Nearly €24 billion of net inflows went into bond funds in January, continuing a trend for high investor demand for fixed income. This was almost matched by €20 billion of net inflows into equity funds, the highest monthly total for such vehicles since 2010. Absolute return funds attracted €4.6 billion of net new money, far greater than their average monthly total of €1.9 billion last year.
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