2021 – Another Year of Strong Net Sales and Asset Growth for the Fund Industry

Published: February 24, 2022

The European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA) has today published its latest monthly Investment Fund Industry Fact Sheet, which provides net sales data on UCITS and AIFs for December 2021, at European level and by country of fund domiciliation. A first overview of the net sales data of UCITS and AIFs over the full year 2021 is also included.

The main developments in 2021 can be summarised as follows:

Net sales of UCITS and AIFs rose to EUR 866 billion in 2021, compared to EUR 650 billion in 2020. Net assets of European investment funds grew by 17%, to reach EUR 22 trillion. 

Net sales of UCITS almost reached the EUR 800 billion mark (EUR 799 billion). This level was significantly higher than in 2020 (EUR 474 billion) and the previous historical record of 2017 (EUR 761 billion).

          Net sales of AIFs fell to EUR 68 billion, compared to EUR 177 billion in 2020. This development can be explained by the very large net outflows recorded by AIFs domiciled in the Netherlands (EUR 159 billion). These outflows were mainly caused by the decision of several Dutch pension funds to stop managing their assets within AIF structures and make more use of segregated mandates.

          Bernard Delbecque, Senior Director for Economics and Research at EFAMA, commented on the 2021 results: “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 of EUR 399 billion, well above the previous 2017 record of EUR 163 billion. It will be hard to beat this record in 2022 given the expected tightening of monetary policy and the current geopolitical and military tensions.”

          Analysing the data for December 2021 in particular, EFAMA highlighted the following:

                        Thomas Tilley, Senior Economist, commented on the December 2021 figures: “Net sales of long-term UCITS remained robust in December 2021, as financial markets ended the year on a high note.”

                        Article Last Updated: February 28, 2022