French Fund Flow Miracle
We all know that investment fund managers had a tough year in 2022, with Assets under Management down due to bad markets and new money flows also down sharply compared to 2021. All the more surprising is the chart below, which shows the net new money invested by French households (read retail investors).
The data comes straight from the ECB’s data warehouse (and, if correct) shows the following:
– French households invested more in funds in 2022.
– 2021 was a record year for fund flows in general, according to conventional wisdom. In France, however, net flows were negative.
– Total net new money of €6bn for 2022 is still a very low figure. Compared to Germany’s €55bn, for example, it is only around 1/10th.
– French households have withdrawn money from funds in 17 of the last 20 years!