Worldwide Mutual Fund Assets and Flows
Third Quarter 2003

Washington, DC, February 4, 2004 - Mutual fund assets worldwide rose to $12.83 trillion at the end of the third quarter of 2003, an increase of about 4 percent during the quarter. Asset growth was boosted by positive stock market returns in almost all reporting countries and the ongoing net flow of new investments. Although down from the $136 billion pace in the second quarter, net cash flow to all funds worldwide was $65 billion in the third quarter with equity funds recording a sharp increase in net cash flows. (Note: These data may have been revised in subsequent releases.)

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 third quarter of 2003 contains statistics from 39 countries and new historical data for a couple of countries resulted in revisions to previously published data.

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

Total assets of mutual funds worldwide were boosted by rising equity prices and continued strong demand for equity funds. Measured in local currencies, fund assets increased in the third quarter in almost all countries. Weakness in the U.S. dollar also contributed to the dollar-measured increase in assets.

Worldwide assets of equity funds increased 7.6 percent during the third quarter, posting $5.1 trillion at quarter-end. Stock price indexes rose in almost every country in the third quarter and net cash flow into equity funds increased to $102 billion in the quarter. Stronger inflows in the United States pushed the Americas' flows higher, while equity funds in Europe captured their highest quarterly inflows since the second quarter of 2001, and Japan buoyed the Asia/Pacific region's flows. Assets of balanced/mixed funds rose 4.9 percent in the quarter, bolstered by net inflows of $28 billion.

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

Bond fund assets edged up 1.4 percent and experienced weak inflows. Net cash flow was $6 billion worldwide in the third quarter, down from $88 billion in the second quarter. Following typical historical patterns, bond funds in the United States experienced net outflows in the third quarter as interest rates rose. In addition, the net cash flow to bond funds in Europe was $20 billion in the third quarter, compared with $44 billion in the second quarter.

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

		2002:Q1		2002:Q2		2002:Q3		2002:Q4		2003:Q1		2003:Q2		2003:Q3
All Funds		128		9		-27		168		44		136		65
	Equity	84		29		-58		12		-9		74		102
	Bond	30		11		52		37		86		88		6
	Money Market	-7		-44		-12		115		-31		-38		-76
	Balanced/Mixed	12		8		-12		-1		-3		9		28
	Other	9		5		4		5		0		3		6

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 and 2003:Q3. Assets of reporting countries represented 93 percent of assets of all countries at the end of 2003:Q3. Net sales are new sales plus reinvested dividends less redemptions plus net exchanges. Components may not sum to the total because of rounding.

Money market mutual funds worldwide experienced a total net outflow of $76 billion in the third quarter. An outflow of $81 billion from money market mutual funds in the United States, in part associated with withdrawals by shareholders to make quarterly tax payments, combined with a small outflow in Europe more than offset inflows in the Asia/Pacific and Africa regions. Reflecting the outflows, money market fund assets worldwide dropped 1.1 percent in the quarter.

At the end of third quarter of 2003, assets of equity funds represented 40 percent of all worldwide mutual fund assets. The asset share of money market funds was 25 percent, while that of bond funds was 23 percent. Balanced/mixed funds represented 8 percent of the total.

Composition of Worldwide Mutual Fund Assets By Type of Fund, 2003:Q3
(percent of total assets, end of quarter)

By region, 58 percent of worldwide assets were in the Americas at the end of the third quarter of 2003, 32 percent were in Europe, and 10 percent in Africa and Asia/Pacific.

Composition of Worldwide Mutual Fund Assets By Region, 2003:Q3
(percent of total assets, end of quarter)

At the end of the third quarter of 2003, the number of mutual funds worldwide stood at 54,120. By type of fund, 42 percent were equity funds, 22 percent were bond funds, 21 percent were balanced/mixed funds, and 9 percent were money market funds.

Composition of Worldwide Mutual Fund By Type of Funds, 2003:Q3
(percent of total assets, end of quarter)

Total Net Assets, 1998-2003:Q3
(billions of U.S. dollars, end of period)

		1998	1999	2000	2001	2002:Q3	2002:Q4	2003:Q1	2003:Q2	2003:Q3
All Reporting Countries1		9,299	11,391	11,871	11,652	10,680	11,321	11,223	12,385	12,831
	Equity	4,137	5,878	5,962	5,134	3,973	4,208	3,997	4,735	5,094
	Bond	2,173	2,104	2,077	2,210	2,404	2,526	2,652	2,873	2,914
	Money Market	2,071	2,287	2,483	2,985	3,027	3,189	3,200	3,219	3,185
	Balanced/Mixed	810	971	1,022	941	858	919	904	1,015	1,065
	Other	58	55	190	190	191	229	214	245	262
Countries Reporting in Every Period2		9,024	11,023	11,110	10,865	9,910	10,412	10,376	11,405	11,800
	Equity	4,017	5,713	5,697	4,885	3,772	3,965	3,788	4,492	4,830
	Bond	2,108	2,043	1,982	2,120	2,317	2,422	2,562	2,769	2,807
	Money Market	2,066	2,282	2,402	2,901	2,929	3,080	3,083	3,082	3,046
	Balanced/Mixed	781	939	965	888	815	862	860	966	1,013
	Other	51	47	64	71	76	82	84	97	105

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 2000-2003:Q3
(billions of U.S. dollars)

		2000	2001	2002	2002:Q3	2002:Q4	2003:Q1	2003:Q2	2003:Q3
All Reporting Countries2		877	894	279	-27	168	44	136	65
	Equity	585	151	66	-58	12	-9	74	102
	Bond	-71	199	130	52	37	86	88	6
	Money Market	198	530	52	-12	115	-31	-38	-76
	Balanced/Mixed	9	5	7	-12	-1	-3	9	28
	Other	0	10	23	4	5	0	3	6
Countries Reporting in Every Period3		602	687	155	-33	142	-7	68	9
	Equity	537	85	28	-60	3	-7	64	81
	Bond	-79	134	114	57	29	65	46	-19
	Money Market	170	468	8	-22	116	-62	-47	-72
	Balanced/Mixed	-26	-9	-1	-10	-8	-5	5	16
	Other	0	9	5	1	1	2	1	2

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 17. Components may not sum to total because of rounding.

Number of Funds, 1998-2003:Q3
(end of period)

		1998	1999	2000	2001	2002:Q3	2002:Q4	2003:Q1	2003:Q2	2003:Q3
All Reporting Countries1		50,365	52,767	51,692	53,001	52,276	54,032	53,460	53,852	54,120
	Equity	15,465	22,463	20,381	22,969	23,072	22,952	22,717	22,568	22,481
	Bond	11,261	15,491	13,128	12,173	11,728	11,593	11,649	11,844	11,968
	Money Market	3,050	6,739	4,692	4,262	4,256	4,377	4,552	4,786	4,828
	Balanced/Mixed	5,754	6,375	11,110	11,142	11,298	11,216	11,213	11,290	11,460
	Other	514	612	1,000	1,302	1,149	1,309	1,380	1,405	1,414
Countries Reporting in Every Period2		34,337	35,989	39,367	41,866	42,602	42,405	42,143	42,031	41,949
	Equity	14,463	15,666	18,637	20,740	21,099	20,817	20,588	20,375	20,234
	Bond	10,867	10,884	10,176	9,843	9,957	9,947	9,904	9,898	9,923
	Money Market	2,921	2,701	2,786	2,729	2,686	2,674	2,665	2,673	2,654
	Balanced/Mixed	5,593	6,149	6,926	7,514	7,725	7,725	7,681	7,756	7,814
	Other	493	589	842	1,040	1,085	1,242	1,305	1,319	1,324

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.