The European Fund and Asset Management Association reports that UCITS sales dropped to €14bn from €41bn in August, while total net assets stood at €7.86trn, representing a 0.8% growth over September.
The association said the “steep reduction” of net sales comes as a result of a “turnaround” in net flows to money market funds throughout the period.
Meanwhile, long-term UCITS posted net inflows of €28bn, compared to €32bn in August, with net flows into equity funds turning negative for the first time since June 2013, posting net outflows of €6bn.
However, balanced funds registered increased net sales of €18bn, up from €13bn in August, and bond funds dropped just €3bn from €16bn to €13bn.
EFAMA said the continuing demand for bond and balanced funds had kept net sales of long-term UCITS “robust”.
Bernard Delbecque, director of economics and research, said: “Despite net outflows from equity funds, net sales of long-term UCITS remained robust in September thanks to a sustained demand for bond funds and rising demand for balanced funds.”
Total non-UCITS registered net outflows of €7bn, compared to net inflows of €8bn in August, which the association puts down to a once-off transfer of assets from special funds to segregated accounts by a “large institutional client”.
EFAMA collected data from 27 associations representing more than 99.6% of total UCITS and non-UCITS assets for the report.
In June, director general, Peter De Proft, said the European finance industry felt ‘rushed’ into implementing MiFID II following a discussion on EU regulatory initiatives at the group’s annual general meeting.
MiFID II, which will not be fully implemented until 2016, will address the residual effects of the financial crisis by improving financial market transparency and strengthening investor protection within the insurance and investment market.
