Belgian fund market down 4% in Q2 2017
Belgian asset managers’ association Beama has reported that Belgium’s fund market has dropped by 4% (i.e. €7.6bn) quarter-on-quarter in the second quarter of 2017 despite positive net inflows.
Assets under management of all funds publicly distributed in Belgium (foreign and Belgium-domiciled funds) amounted to €182.3bn as of 30 June 2017 against €189.9bn at the end of March 2017.
Beama said the drop in the local fund market’s assets is totally due to the evolution of financial markets during March and June 2017. A number of macro-economic factors such as the volatility seen in the Belgian stock market, the fall of the US dollar versus the euro and the dive of other major currencies have impacted the underlying assets of several funds, the association argued.
Good quarter for money market funds and funds of funds
Bond funds publicly distributed in Belgium have suffered a 8.35% decline in assets quarter-on-quarter, standing at €33.36bn as of 30 June 2017 from €36.4bn in Q1 2017.
Regarding equity funds in the Belgian fund market have seen their assets slump to €53.63bn at the end of Q2 2017 from €57.09bn in Q1 2017 (-6.1% qoq). In that segment, Belgian equity strategies have reported a 3.39% in assets from March to June 2017. Balanced funds and strategies with capital protection have also reported losses in assets.
On the opposite, money market funds’ assets have grown by €0.3bn (i.e. 8.6%) between March and June 2017 to €4bn of assets. Net inflows were the main reason of the increase, said Beama.
Funds of funds have had a successful quarter as well, having raised to €70.19bn as at end June 2017 from €66.38bn (+5.74% qoq). Assets in FoFs distributed in the Belgian market represent 38.50% of its total AuM.
As of end-June 2017, Belgium-domiciled funds managed €135.8bn of assets, of which a seventh (€19bn) were in pension savings funds hitting a new record having gathered €41m of net new inflows over the second quarter of the year.
The Belgian fund market was split as following as at 30 June 2017: 45.48% of balanced funds (including 10.41% of pension savings funds), 29.42% of equity funds (including 0.70% Belgian equity funds), 18.3% of bond funds, 4.47% of funds with capital protection, 2.21% of money market funds and 0.13% of other funds.
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