In the first quarter of 2005, mutual fund assets worldwide were $16.13 trillion, about the same as at year-end 2004, according to the Investment Company Institute, which compiles worldwide statistics on behalf of the International Investment Funds Association, an organization of national mutual fund associations.
The collection for the first quarter of 2005 contains statistics from 41 countries. The net cash flow to all funds worldwide picked up in the first quarter to $214 billion, compared with $166 billion in the fourth quarter last year. Long-term funds experienced increased inflows, primarily pulled up by strong bond inflows in Europe. Outflows from money market funds picked up a bit in the first quarter and were concentrated in the United States.
Despite positive stock market performance in more than three-quarters of reporting countries and ongoing net cash flow, mutual fund assets worldwide were little changed in the first quarter of 2005, in part because of essentially flat stock market performance in the United States and because growth in assets reported in U.S. dollars was muted due to the appreciation of the dollar. Indeed, mutual fund assets in Europe on a Euro-denominated basis rose 4.9 percent, compared with a slight decline of 0.1 percent on a U.S.-dollar-denominated basis. Many countries reported an increase in assets measured in local currency. Worldwide assets of equity funds were $7.2 trillion at the end of the first quarter of 2005, essentially unchanged from year-end 2004. Net cash flow to equity funds worldwide was $103 billion in the first quarter, compared with $100 billion in the fourth quarter. The Americas reported net inflows of $51 billion into equity funds in the first quarter of 2005, while Europe reported net inflows of $37 billion, and the Asian/Pacific and African regions, $15 billion. Assets of balanced/mixed funds also were about unchanged in the first quarter of 2005, with reported net inflows of $11 billion.