Worldwide mutual fund net inflows jumped to $165 billion in the quarter ended Dec. 31 from $22 billion in the previous quarter, with equity funds snaring $100 billion of the total, the Investment Company Institute announced today in a news release. The rise was "buoyed by positive stock market performance and an increase in cash flows," ICI said. Fourth-quarter inflows to bond funds and balanced/mixed funds came to $43 billion and $24 billion, respectively, while inflows to other funds stood at $8 billion. Only money market funds saw outflows of $10 billion, narrowing from an outflow of $57 billion in the third quarter.
At the end of 2004, equity mutual funds held roughly 45% of the $16.06 trillion in worldwide mutual fund assets; followed by money market funds with 21%; bond funds, 20%; balanced/mixed funds, 9%; and other funds, 5%.
Markets in the Americas accounted for $59 billion of total equity inflows in the fourth quarter, outpacing Europe's $27 billion and $14 billion for the Asian/Pacific and African regions combined, according to ICI. By contrast, Europe accounted for nearly two-thirds of the bond inflows, with the Americas accounting for about one-third. Equity mutual fund assets rose 14% from the previous quarter to $7.17 trillion; bond assets climbed 8.6% to $3.29 trillion; money market assets edged up 3.4% to $3.32 trillion; and balanced/mixed fund assets rose 13% to $1.43 trillion.
