EFAMA Report Reveals Fund Ownership In Europe Increased By 150% In Nine Years To 2017

Overall, the total amount of financial assets held by European investors reached €98.6trn at the end of 2017, compared to €63trn at the end of 2008, according to the report, Ownership of Investment Funds in Europe.

Within this, household - or private - investors were the largest holders, owning more than €29.1trn of financial assets. Around 36% of this was held within bank accounts, 46% in insurance and pension products and the remaining 18% in quoted shares, bonds and investment funds. €2.9trn of this was in investment funds, up from €1.5trn in 2008 (see graphs below).

The amount of investment fund assets held by all European investors - which also includes insurance companies, pension funds and other financial intermediaries - reached €11.7trn at the end of 2017. This was up from €4.7trn in 2008.

Insurers and pension funds remained the largest holders of European investment funds in 2017 with a share of 41.7%, compared to 32.5% in 2008.

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Investment funds saw net inflows each year during the last decade, except in 2008, with the global financial crisis being the key factor.

By contrast, 2017 was a record year in terms of net acquisitions of investment funds at €654bn. Over the last decade, insurance companies and pension funds were the biggest purchasers of investment funds, accumulating a total of €1.8trn.

Other financial intermediaries and households followed with net purchases of €937bn and €308bn, respectively.

Cross-border products

Over the last ten years, the share of cross-border funds (funds domiciled in a European country other than the country of the investor) grew steadily, from 25% in 2008 to 32% in 2017.

EFAMA said this evolution was driven, at least partly, by "more coherent rules for the cross-border distribution of funds provided by Single Market Initiatives such as MiFID and the UCITS and AIFM frameworks".

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Tanguy van de Werve, EFAMA Director General, commented: "The increase in cross-border fund ownership in Europe over the past decade is a welcome development.

"We expect this trend to continue in the future, driven by technology-enabled access to a larger pool of foreign fund providers.

"The European Commission's proposal on facilitating the cross-border distribution of funds, on which we anticipate trilogue approval at any time, will enable consumers to benefit from greater choice at a lower cost, thereby further unlocking the benefits of the Capital Market Union project."

Investment fund ownership by sector

 (EUR trillions) Source: EFAMA

 Investment fund ownership at end of 2017

EUR billions and share of total. Source: EFAMA