Net sales of UCITS and alternative investment funds (AIFs) totalled EUR €866 billion for 2021, compared to €650 billion year-on-year, according to the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA).
The main reasons for the increase were the advancing COVID-19 global vaccination campaign and the strength of economic recovery.
2021 was an “absolute record year” for equity funds, reports EFAMA, with net sales increasing to €399 billion. The previous record was reached in 2017 with total net sales of €163 billion.
Net sales of multi-asset funds amounted to €186 billion for 2021, compared to €29 billion for 2020.
At year-end 2021, UCITS recorded net inflows of almost €800 billion mark (€799 billion). This level was significantly higher than in 2020 (€474 billion) and the previous historical record of 2017 (€761 billion).
Net sales of long-term UCITS (UCITS excluding money market funds) stood at €58 billion in December 2021, up from €44 billion in November.
Equity funds recorded net sales of €20 billion in December 2021, up from €14 billion in November 2021.
UCITS money market funds recorded net outflows of €9 billion for December 2021, compared to net inflows of €35 billion in the previous November.
AIFs registered net outflows of €37 billion in December 2021, compared to net outflows of €8 billion in November 2021, while total net assets of UCITS and AIFs increased by 2.2 per cent from November to December 2021 to €22 trillion.
Commenting on the 2021 results, Bernard Delbecque, senior director for economics and research at EFAMA, says: “2021 was a record year for UCITS for two main reasons. First, high hopes on the COVID-19 vaccination campaign prevailed over the risks posed by the variants of the virus. Second, the strength of the economic recovery and the resulting strong performance of stock markets supported investor confidence.
“Overall, investors were very much in a ‘risk-on’ mode, as net sales of UCITS equity funds reached a new record high. It will be hard to beat this record in 2022, given the expected tightening of monetary policy and the current geopolitical and military tensions.”
