Investing February 4, 2004

ICI: Fund Assets Hit $12.3 Trillion in Q3

February 4, 2004 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Total mutual fund assets ticked up by 4% worldwide during the third quarter of 2003, a much weaker showing than the second quarter's 10.3% asset gain.
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Rising equity prices boosted total assets of mutual funds worldwide.  With the net flow of $65 billion in new investments, total assets now stand at $12.83 trillion – up slightly from the previous quarter’s $12.38 trillion level ($136 billion in inflows), according to data from the Investment Company Institute (ICI) (See  ICI: Worldwide Mutual Funds Assets Up 10.3% ).

 

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Assets of equity funds went up 7.6% during the third quarter to $5.1 trillion. This increase was attributed by ICI to rising stock price indices in almost every country. Further, net cash flow to equity funds was $102 billion during the quarter. The turnaround in net flow occurred primarily among funds in Europe and the United States, with equity funds in the Asia/Pacific region again recording an inflow in the third quarter.

Bond funds also went up during the third quarter with a $6 billion inflow, down from the second quarter’s $88 billion asset gain. US and European bond funds again received new investments in the third quarter.

Additionally, balanced/mixed funds recorded an inflow in the third quarter of $28 billion to $2.92 trillion.

Once the dust had settled, 40% of all mutual funds held globally were equity funds.  This was followed by similar allocations to money market (25%) and bond (23%) funds, while balanced /mixed (8%) and other (4%) rounded out the list.  By region, more than half (58%) of worldwide mutual fund assets were in the Americas at the end of the third quarter, compared with 32% in Europe and 10% in Africa and Asia/Pacific.

A complete copy of the ICI release can be found at  http://www.ici.org/stats/mf/ww_09_03.html .

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