Wednesday 26 February 2020

Funds that flow

Ah, the best kind, probably. Nice one! 'What do you know, boss?' I'm just guessing, man. Don't shoot the messenger. 'And what does that mean, in this context?' I have no idea. But let the devil take the hindmost!

Well, we have the Lipper crew at Refinitiv now ...

Long-term mutual funds posted net inflows for January 2020.
The overall fund flows for mutual funds in Europe in January amounted to net inflows of €106.5 bn.
Bond funds (+€31.6 bn) were the best-selling individual asset type in the segment of long-term funds for January.
Equity Global (+€9.8 bn) was once again the best-selling sector among long-term funds for January.
Luxembourg (+€32.4 bn) was the fund domicile with the highest net inflows, followed by France (+€32.1 bn) and Ireland (+€19.0 bn).
BlackRock was the best-selling fund promoter for January overall, with net sales of €16.6 bn, ahead of Amundi (+€14.0 bn) and BNP Paribas Asset Management (+€8.4 bn).
The 10 best-selling long-term funds gathered at the share-class level amounted to net inflows of €7.0 bn for January.
AXA Strategy Fund Professional Invest S (+€1.5 bn) was the best-selling individual long-term fund for January.

Great! / And at my request, there's no song hidden amongst that lot. Well done, guys! You're playing the game.

The magnificent Detlef wishes to speak ...

Detlef Glow, Lipper Head of EMEA Research at Refinitiv, comments: "Following the good performance of the equity markets globally, European investors continued to be in risk-on mode in January. Investor sentiment might have been supported by positive news regarding the trade war between the U.S. and China, as well as a clearer situation around Brexit, since both led to a better outlook for general economic growth and company earnings for the year ahead."

So, is everything all right then?

"Despite this, there are concerns over global economic growth which have been triggered by the outbreak of the coronavirus, the effects of which on supply chains and corporate profits are not yet known. Nevertheless, long-term mutual funds posted strong net inflows in January 2020. Bond funds (+€31.6 bn) were the best-selling asset type in the long-term mutual funds segment, followed by equity funds (+€14.8 bn), mixed-assets funds (+€14.1 bn), commodity funds (+€2.4 bn), and real estate funds (+€1.4 bn). Conversely, alternative UCITS funds (-€1.1 bn) and 'other' funds (-€1.2 bn) faced outflows. These fund flows added up to overall net inflows of €62.0 bn into long-term investment funds for January. ETFs contributed inflows of €12.5 bn to these flows."

Oh, okay. Thanks, Detlef!

Oh, by the way, this PR email is two days old and a lot of things may have changed in the world since then. I wouldn't know, of course. 'Why wouldn't you know, boss?' Because I'm not interested, Voice. 'Oh.' I have my own world, my own reality. 'Okay. And how is that working out for you?' Beautifully!

...

Anything else?

I can't think of anything. I don't want to think of anything.

There are things I could say. I won't say them. Things I've already thought about, a million times.

Superficiality is everywhere. A lot of people have no deep thoughts or feelings. Excuse me if I don't join them. I'm frying different fish, anyway.

Ha! I would never fry a real fish, obviously. Just saying.

The fish - the real fish - haven't hurt anybody. The fish are minding their own business. They have families.

Let's stop talking about fish.

Let's stop talking altogether.