Worldwide Mutual Fund Assets And Flows
First Quarter 2004

Washington, DC, August 24, 2004 - Mutual fund assets worldwide rose 3.6 percent in the first quarter of 2004 to $14.46 trillion by quarter-end, with assets increasing in all regions. Mutual fund asset growth was boosted by positive stock market returns in almost all reporting countries and the ongoing net flow of new investments. Net cash flow to all funds worldwide increased from $74 billion in the fourth quarter of 2003 to a robust $246 billion in the first quarter of 2004 with equity funds experiencing strong net cash inflows.

The Investment Company Institute compiles worldwide statistics on behalf of the International Investment Funds Association, an organization of national mutual fund associations. The collection for the first quarter of 2004 contains statistics from 39 countries.

Worldwide Mutual Fund Assets
(trillions of U.S. dollars, end of quarter)

In the first quarter of 2004, total assets of mutual funds worldwide were boosted by rising equity prices, continued demand for equity funds, and a strong turnaround in demand for money market funds in France and Korea. Measured in local currencies, fund assets increased in the first quarter in most reporting countries. Strength in the U.S. dollar muted the dollar-measured increase in assets compared with growth measured with local currencies.

Worldwide assets of equity funds increased 5.8 percent during the first quarter, posting $6.2 trillion at quarter-end. Stock price indexes rose in almost every country in the first quarter and net cash flow into equity funds increased to $124 billion in the quarter. The bulk of the inflow occurred in the Americas. Reflecting a large net inflow into equity funds in the United States, the Americas' flows amounted to $90 billion in the first quarter of 2004 after gaining $66 billion in the fourth quarter of 2003. Assets of balanced/mixed funds rose 3.2 percent in the first quarter of 2004, with reported net inflows of $36 billion.

Worldwide Assets of Equity, Bond, Money Market, and Balanced / Mixed Funds
(billions of U.S. dollars, end of quarter)

Bond fund assets worldwide fell 1.8 percent in the first quarter of 2004, pulled down in part by a reclassification of some bond funds in Luxembourg into money market funds. After posting a small net outflow in the fourth quarter of 2003, bond funds worldwide garnered a $39 billion inflow in the first quarter of 2004. In the first quarter of 2004, the Americas and European regions reported large net inflows into bond funds, while the Asian/Pacific and African regions reported very small net outflows from bond funds.

Net Sales Of Mutual Funds Worldwide (Billions of U.S. dollars)
		2002:Q2	2002:Q3	2002:Q4		2003:Q1	2003:Q2	2003:Q3	2003:Q4		2004:Q1
All Funds		9	-27	168		44	136	65	74		246
	Equity	29	-58	12		-9	74	102	116		124
	Bond	11	52	37		86	88	6	-4		39
	Money Market	-44	-12	115		-31	-38	-76	-67		-6
	Balanced/Mixed	8	-12	-1		-3	9	28	23		36
	Other	5	4	5		0	3	6	5		3
Note: Twenty-seven countries reported net sales in 2002:Q1, 2002:Q2, and 2002:Q3, 28 countries reported in 2002:Q4, 29 countries reported in 2003:Q1, and 30 countries reported in 2003:Q2, 2003:Q3, 2003:Q4, and 2004:Q1. Assets of reporting countries represented 93 percent of assets of all countries at the end of 2003:Q4. Net sales are new sales plus reinvested dividends less redemptions plus net exchanges. Components may not sum to the total because of rounding. In 2004:Q1, the components do not add to the total because of unclassified funds.

Money market fund assets worldwide rose 4.2 percent in the first quarter of 2004, boosted in part by the fund reclassification in Luxembourg. Money market mutual funds experienced a total net outflow of $6 billion in the first quarter, pulled down by an outflow of $49 billion from money market funds in the United States. However, the U.S. outflow was mostly offset by inflows elsewhere, most notably, in France with net sales of $33 billion and in Korea with a $12 billion net inflow

At the end of the first quarter of 2004, assets of equity funds represented 43 percent of all worldwide mutual fund assets. The asset share of money market funds was 23 percent, while that of bond funds was 20 percent. Balanced/mixed funds represented 9 percent of the total.

Percent of Worldwide Mutual Fund Assets By Type of Fund, 2004:Q1

By region, 57 percent of worldwide assets were in the Americas in the first quarter of 2004, 33 percent were in Europe, and 10 percent in Africa and Asia/Pacific.

Percent of Worldwide Mutual Fund Assets By Region, 2004:Q1

At the end of the first quarter of 2004, the number of mutual funds worldwide stood at 54,640. By type of fund, 41 percent were equity funds, 18 percent were bond funds, 21 percent were balanced/mixed funds, and 9 percent were money market funds.

Percent of Worldwide Mutual Fund By Type of Funds, 2004:Q1

Total Net Assets, 1999-2004:Q1
(Billions of U.S. dollars, end of period)

		1999	2000	2001	2002	2003:Q2	2003:Q3	2003:Q4	2004:Q1
All Reporting Countries1		11,391	11,871	11,655	11,324	12,383	12,831	13,958	14,463
	Equity	5,878	5,962	5,134	4,204	4,733	5,091	5,882	6,222
	Bond	2,104	2,077	2,212	2,529	2,873	2,914	3,010	2,962
	Money Market	2,287	2,483	2,986	3,190	3,219	3,185	3,205	3,342
	Balanced/Mixed	971	1,022	942	923	1,015	1,066	1,201	1,233
	Other	55	190	190	229	245	262	298	319
Countries Reporting in Every Period2		11,023	11,110	10,865	10,410	11,403	11,797	12,781	13,228
	Equity	5,713	5,697	4,885	3,961	4,491	4,827	5,577	5,905
	Bond	2,043	1,982	2,120	2,422	2,769	2,807	2,895	2,846
	Money Market	2,282	2,402	2,901	3,080	3,082	3,045	3,047	3,169
	Balanced/Mixed	939	965	888	865	965	1,014	1,140	1,175
	Other	47	64	71	82	97	105	121	133

Source National mutual fund associations; Fédération Européenne des Fonds et Sociétés d'Investissement (FEFSI) provides data for all European countries except Romania, Russia, and Turkey.
¹Components may not sum to total because of rounding or unclassified funds.
²Number of countries is 25. Components may not sum to total because of rounding.

Net Sales,¹ 2001-2004:Q1
(Billions of U.S. dollars)

		2001	2002	2003	2003:Q1	2003:Q2	2003:Q3	2003:Q4	2004:Q1
All Reporting Countries2		894	279	319	44	136	65	74	246
	Equity	151	66	283	-9	74	102	116	124
	Bond	199	130	176	86	88	6	-4	39
	Money Market	530	52	-212	-31	-38	-76	-67	-6
	Balanced/Mixed	5	7	57	-3	9	28	23	36
	Other	10	23	14	0	3	6	5	3
Countries Reporting in Every Period3		784	240	165	26	91	22	25	180
	Equity	115	55	250	-2	69	89	94	123
	Bond	144	121	85	68	52	-14	-20	31
	Money Market	515	48	-218	-38	-39	-76	-66	-10
	Balanced/Mixed	1	11	41	-4	8	22	16	33
	Other	9	5	6	2	1	2	1	1

Source: National mutual fund associations; Fédération Européenne des Fonds et Sociétés d'Investissement (FEFSI) provides data for all European countries except Romania, Russia, and Turkey.
¹Net sales are new sales plus reinvested dividends less redemptions plus net exchanges.
²Components may not sum to total because of rounding or unclassified funds.
³Number of countries is 18. Components may not sum to total because of rounding.

Number of Funds, 1999-2004:Q1
(End of period)

		1999	2000	2001	2002	2003:Q2	2003:Q3	2003:Q4	2004:Q1
All Reporting Countries1		52,746	51,692	52,849	54,110	53,847	54,120	54,015	54,640
	Equity	22,453	20,381	22,348	22,975	22,568	22,478	22,366	22,192
	Bond	15,474	13,128	12,183	11,617	11,844	11,968	11,754	9,869
	Money Market	6,745	4,692	4,277	4,394	4,786	4,827	4,957	4,676
	Balanced/Mixed	6,375	11,110	11,155	11,229	11,285	11,456	11,553	11,676
	Other	612	1,000	1,195	1,310	1,405	1,414	1,407	1,497
Countries Reporting in Every Period2		35,962	39,367	41,620	42,393	42,016	41,941	41,690	42,186
	Equity	15,656	18,637	20,630	20,809	20,375	20,231	20,020	19,884
	Bond	10,867	10,176	9,830	9,944	9,898	9,923	9,846	7,947
	Money Market	2,701	2,786	2,727	2,674	2,673	2,653	2,651	2,406
	Balanced/Mixed	6,149	6,926	7,500	7,724	7,751	7,810	7,858	7,894
	Other	589	842	933	1,242	1,319	1,324	1,315	1,366

Source: National mutual fund associations; Fédération Européenne des Fonds et Sociétés d'Investissement (FEFSI) provides data for all European countries except Romania, Russia, and Turkey.
¹Components may not sum to total because of unclassified funds.
²Number of countries is 24.