CNBC: European MMF Flows Record
CNBC.com writes, "Cash flows into European funds surged more than 60% in 2020, new data shows," which tells us, "Across the year, overall net inflows into European funds were estimated at 574.3 billion euros ($696 billion), up from 303.9 billion euros in 2019. The 2020 total also marks the second-highest inflows into mutual funds and ETFs (exchange-traded funds) in the history of the European fund industry." The piece explains, "The 2020 total also marks the second-highest inflows into mutual funds and ETFs (exchange-traded funds) in the history of the European fund industry. Mutual funds, which enjoyed 483.5 billion euros of inflows, are those which pool money from investors to allocate to stocks, bonds, money market instruments or other alternative assets." CNBC.com quotes Detlef Glow, head of Lipper EMEA research at Refinitiv, "Generally speaking, European investors seem to be somewhat cautious since the majority of the inflows were invested in money market funds (+€268.4 bn), while long-term investment products enjoyed inflows of €305.8 bn.... It is remarkable that the flows in money market products were the highest annual flows in the history of the European fund industry." The article adds, "Money market funds are mutual funds designed to offer investors high levels of liquidity with minimal risk. They invest in such instruments as cash, cash equivalent securities, and short term debt-based securities with high credit ratings, like U.S. Treasurys. With net inflows of 24.8 billion euros, BlackRock was by far the largest fund promoter in Europe in December. In its fourth-quarter earnings report, the U.S. giant said its $391 billion net inflows for the full year was driven by “record flows in cash, active equity and alternatives and continued momentum in fixed income." Glow also says, "Despite these fears, investors bought into risky assets as long-term funds enjoyed estimated net inflows of €90.6 bn, while money market products had estimated inflows of €31.7 bn."
