Worldwide Mutual Fund Assets And Flows
First Quarter 2006

Washington, DC, August 3, 2006 - Mutual fund assets worldwide increased 7.5 percent to $19.11 trillion at the end of the first quarter of 2006. Net cash flow to all funds worldwide accelerated, reaching $437 billion in the first quarter of 2006. Inflows to long-term funds more than doubled in the first quarter, hitting $409 billion. Compared to the fourth quarter, first-quarter long-term fund flows were higher for all asset categories (equity, bond, mixed/balanced, and other) and all regions (Americas, Europe, Asia and Pacific, and Africa). In contrast, first-quarter money market fund inflows dropped by two-thirds to $28 billion. Although money market fund flows outside of the United State actually strengthened substantially (moving from net outflows to net inflows), this strength was more than offset by a drop in U.S. money market fund inflows from their rapid fourth quarter pace.

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 2006 contains statistics from 41 countries.

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

Most reporting countries had positive stock market performance and positive net cash flow in the first quarter of 2006. However, growth in assets reported in U.S. dollars was boosted somewhat by the depreciation of the dollar. For example, mutual fund assets in Europe on a U.S.-dollar-denominated basis increased 10.4 percent, compared with 7.6 percent on a Euro-denominated basis.

On a U.S.-dollar-denominated basis, mutual fund assets increased in the first quarter in all investment categories. The largest increase occurred in worldwide assets of equity funds, which reached $9.2 trillion at the end of the first quarter of 2006, growing 10.7 percent over the quarter. Assets of balanced/mixed funds grew 9.6 percent, holding $1.7 trillion at the end of the first quarter. Bond and money market fund assets grew more slowly, with bond fund assets up 4.1 percent and money market fund assets up 1.4 percent.

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

Net cash flow to mutual funds worldwide was $437 billion in the first quarter of 2006, with long-term funds and money market funds experiencing aggregate net inflows worldwide. Equity fund flows worldwide increased to $246 billion in the first quarter, compared with $160 billion in the fourth quarter. Equity fund inflows were strong worldwide, with the Americas reporting net inflows to equity funds of $102 billion, Europe reporting net inflows of $100 billion, and the Asia/Pacific and African regions accounting for $45 billion. Balanced fund flows more than doubled in the first quarter, hitting $73 billion compared to $34 billion in the fourth quarter. The increase was nearly all attributable to Europe, where net inflows jumped from $19 billion in the fourth quarter to $57 billion in the first quarter.

After experiencing an outflow in the fourth quarter, net flows to bond funds registered $65 billion in the first quarter of 2006. Net flows to bond funds in the Americas were $51 billion in the first quarter, up from $14 billion in the fourth quarter. European bond funds registered inflows of $27 billion, after experiencing outflows in the fourth quarter. In contrast, first-quarter net outflows in the Asia/Pacific region accelerated, reaching $13 billion.

The pace of flows into money market funds slowed in the first quarter to $28 billion after hitting $81 billion in the fourth quarter. Money market fund flows outside the United States actually strengthened considerably to $23 billion in the first quarter, compared to an outflow of $28 billion in the fourth quarter. However, after reaching $109 billion in the fourth quarter, U.S. net flows into money market funds totaled only $5 billion in the first quarter.

Net Sales Of Mutual Funds Worldwide
(billions of U.S. dollars)

		2004			2005				2006
		Q2	Q3	Q4	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Q1
All Funds		22	22	166	215	166	305	284	437
	Equity	75	40	100	103	65	87	160	246
	Bond	-12	19	43	99	49	89	-14	65
	Money Market	-58	-57	-10	-21	*	59	81	28
	Balanced/Mixed	4	13	24	11	26	37	34	73
	Other	13	5	8	22	25	32	22	25

*Less than $0.5 billion.
Note: Thirty countries reported in 2003:Q2, 2003:Q3, 2003:Q4, and 2004:Q1; 31 countries reported in 2004:Q2; 30 countries reported in 2004:Q3; 31 countries reported in 2004:Q4; 32 countries reported in 2005:Q1, 2005:Q2, 2005:Q3, and 2005:Q4; and 33 countries reported 2006:Q1. Assets of reporting countries represented 92 percent of assets of all countries at the end of 2006:Q1. Net sales are new sales plus reinvested dividends less redemptions plus net exchanges. Components may not sum to the total because of rounding.

Equity fund assets represented the bulk of all worldwide mutual fund assets: At the end of the first quarter of 2006, 48 percent of worldwide mutual fund assets were equity funds. The asset share of bond funds was 19 percent and money market funds were 18 percent. Balanced/mixed fund assets represented 9 percent of the total.

Worldwide Mutual Fund Assets By Type Of Fund, 2006:Q1
(percent)

Note: Other/unclassified includes the total net assets of Ireland.

By region, 54 percent of worldwide assets were in the Americas in the first quarter of 2006, 35 percent were in Europe, and 11 percent in Africa and Asia/Pacific.

Worldwide Mutual Fund Assets by Region, 2006:Q1
(percent)

The number of mutual funds worldwide stood at 58,373 at the end of the first quarter of 2006. By type of fund, 41 percent were equity funds, 23 percent were bond funds, 20 percent were balanced/mixed funds, and 6 percent were money market funds.

Worldwide Mutual Funds by Type of Fund, 2006:Q1
(percent)

Note: Other/unclassified includes total funds in Ireland.

Total Net Assets, 2001-2006:Q1
(billions of U.S. dollars, end of period)

			2001	2002	2003	2004	2005				2006
							Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Q1
All Reporting Countries1			11,655	11,324	14,048	16,165	16,151	16,368	17,285	17,771	19,109
	Equity		5,134	4,204	5,923	7,219	7,221	7,384	7,953	8,333	9,228
	Bond		2,212	2,534	3,047	3,313	3,342	3,397	3,517	3,447	3,588
	Money Market		2,986	3,190	3,206	3,323	3,270	3,202	3,279	3,364	3,412
	Balanced/Mixed		942	918	1,198	1,445	1,426	1,455	1,535	1,568	1,719
	Other		190	229	311	398	416	436	481	512	567
Countries Reporting in Every Period2			11,199	10,767	13,300	15,246	15,231	15,428	16,284	16,731	17,964
		Equity	5,007	4,084	5,766	7,031	7,034	7,201	7,753	8,123	8,986
		Bond	2,152	2,462	2,953	3,217	3,250	3,299	3,411	3,339	3,470
		Money Market	2,970	3,159	3,157	3,254	3,200	3,129	3,202	3,289	3,333
		Balanced/Mixed	888	860	1,128	1,364	1,346	1,377	1,452	1,485	1,626
		Other	182	202	296	380	401	422	466	495	549

Source: National mutual fund associations; European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA, formerly FEFSI) provides data for all European countries except Romania and Russia.
¹ Components may not sum to total because of rounding or unclassified funds.
² Number of countries is 26. Components may not sum to total because of rounding.

Net Sales,¹ 2002-2006:Q1
(billions of U.S. dollars)

		2002	2003	2004	2005	2005				2006
						Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4		Q1
All Reporting Countries2		278	317	457	971	215	166	305	284	437
	Equity	66	283	357	416	103	65	87	160	246
	Bond	130	177	109	224	99	49	89	-14	65
	Money Market	53	-212	-120	120	-21	0	59	81	28
	Balanced/Mixed	6	56	82	108	11	26	37	34	73
	Other	23	14	29	102	22	25	32	22	25
Countries Reporting in Every Period3		240	165	307	672	128	127	205	212	283
	Equity	55	250	298	317	76	59	61	121	177
	Bond	121	86	62	91	32	35	56	-33	23
	Money Market	49	-218	-131	128	-20	5	53	91	26
	Balanced/Mixed	10	40	69	112	33	22	30	27	52
	Other	5	6	8	23	7	6	6	5	7

Source: National mutual fund associations; European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA, formerly FEFSI) provides data for all European countries except Romania and Russia.
¹ Net sales are new sales plus reinvested dividends less redemptions plus net exchanges.
² Components may not sum to total because of rounding or unclassified funds.
³ Number of countries is 18. Components may not sum to total because of rounding.

Number of Funds, 2001-2006:Q1
(end of period)

		2001	2002	2003	2004	2005				2006
						Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Q1
All Reporting Countries1		52,849	54,110	54,569	54,982	55,093	55,919	56,095	56,860	58,373
	Equity	22,348	22,974	22,688	22,362	22,796	23,043	23,050	23,283	23,972
	Bond	12,183	11,619	11,886	13,309	13,131	13,213	13,225	13,175	13,252
	Money Market	4,277	4,394	4,974	3,623	3,617	3,598	3,569	3,536	3,569
	Balanced/Mixed	11,155	11,228	11,465	11,603	11,106	11,291	11,181	11,422	11,816
	Other	1,195	1,310	1,578	1,997	2,364	2,659	3,017	3,317	3,599
Countries Reporting in Every Period2		41,620	42,393	41,689	42,354	42,091	42,529	42,377	42,426	43,404
	Equity	20,630	20,808	20,018	19,918	19,971	20,052	19,952	20,043	20,521
	Bond	9,830	9,946	9,847	9,961	10,008	10,026	10,076	10,004	10,115
	Money Market	2,727	2,674	2,652	2,899	2,900	2,867	2,831	2,799	2,824
	Balanced/Mixed	7,500	7,723	7,857	8,095	7,669	7,966	7,850	7,857	8,046
	Other	933	1,242	1,315	1,481	1,543	1,618	1,668	1,723	1,898

Source: National mutual fund associations; European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA, formerly FEFSI) provides data for all European countries except Romania and Russia.
¹ Components may not sum to total because of unclassified funds.
² Number of countries is 24.