The European Fund and Asset Management Association has published its Investment Fund Industry Fact Sheet for May.

23 associations representing more than 97% of total UCITS and non-UCITS assets at the end of May 2010 provided net sales and/or net assets data for the fact sheet.

The main developments in May in the reporting countries can be summarised as follows:

• UCITS suffered negative net outflows of EUR 23 billion in May.
  
• For the first time since March 2009, long-term UCITS (UCITS excluding money market funds) experienced net outflows in May, totaling EUR 8 billion.
  
• Also for the first time since March 2009, equity and bond funds recorded net outflows (EUR 11 billion and EUR 2 billion, respectively), reflecting investor fear over sovereign debt problems in Europe and the risk of contagion to the global economy.
  
• Balanced funds and special funds reserved to institutional investors continued to attract new money in May (EUR 3 billion and EUR 4 billion). The broad asset allocation strategy offered by balanced funds and the more stable sources of new money into special funds explain why these funds were less affected by the market developments in May.
  
• Despite renewed financial market volatility, outflows from money market funds rose to EUR 14 billion, from EUR 7 billion in April.
  
• Total assets of UCITS and non-UCITS fell by 0.7% in May compared to end April.
  

The Eurozone’s sovereign debt crisis and its risk to economic recovery created apprehension in the market in May, thereby affecting investors’ appetite for risk. However, total net outflows from long-term UCITS remained modest in terms of total long-term UCITS assets (0.2%).

For the first five months of 2010, long-term UCITS enjoyed net inflows of EUR 108 billion.