Worldwide Mutual Fund Assets And Flows
Third Quarter 2004

Washington, DC, February 18, 2005 - Mutual fund assets worldwide were $14.47 trillion at the end of the third quarter, about the same as the end of the second quarter of 2004. Over the third quarter of 2004, stock market price indexes rose in three-quarters of reporting nations. Net cash flow to all funds worldwide was $22 billion in the third quarter, the same pace as in the second quarter. Long-term funds experienced inflows, while money market funds saw outflows in the third quarter.

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 2004 contains statistics from 40 countries.

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

Total assets of mutual funds worldwide were about unchanged in the third quarter of 2004. Bond fund and balanced fund assets experienced modest increases, while equity fund and money market fund assets edged down. Worldwide assets of equity funds were $6.3 trillion at the end of the third quarter of 2004, negligibly lower than in the second quarter. Stock price indexes rose in about three-quarters of the reporting countries in the third quarter, but more than 60 percent of equity fund assets worldwide are in the United States and U.S. stock market prices edged down over the quarter. Net new cash flow into equity funds worldwide was $40 billion in the quarter (although smaller than the second quarter's inflow of $75 billion). All regions reported net inflows into equity funds in the third quarter, with $24 billion occurring in the Americas, $5 billion in Europe, and $11 billion in the Asian/Pacific and African regions. Assets of balanced/mixed funds rose 2.0 percent in the third quarter of 2004, with reported net inflows of $13 billion.

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

*Excludes Netherlands from 2004:Q2 and 2004:Q3 because data are not available at this time for 2004:Q3.

Bond fund assets worldwide increased 3.3 percent in the third quarter of 2004, buoyed in part by a net inflow of $19 billion. In the third quarter of 2004, the Americas and Europe reported net inflows to bond funds, while the Asian/Pacific region reported a net outflow from bond funds.

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

		2002:Q4		2003:Q1	2003:Q2	2003:Q3	2003:Q4		2004:Q1	2004:Q2	2004:Q3
All Funds		168		44	136	65	73		247	22	22
	Equity	12		-9	74	102	116		142	75	40
	Bond	37		86	88	6	-4		58	-12	19
	Money Market	115		-31	-38	-76	-67		4	-58	-56
	Balanced/Mixed	-1		-3	9	28	23		40	4	13
	Other	5		0	3	6	5		3	13	5

Note: Twenty-eight countries reported net sales in 2002:Q4; 29 countries reported in 2003:Q1; 30 countries reported in 2003:Q2, 2003:Q3, 2003:Q4, and 2004:Q1; 31 countries reported in 2004:Q2; and 30 countries reported in 2004:Q3. Assets of reporting countries represented 92 percent of assets of all countries at the end of 2004: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 fund assets worldwide fell 1.6 percent in the third quarter of 2004, pulled down by a total net outflow of $56 billion in the quarter. The bulk of the outflow occurred in U.S. money market funds, reporting an outflow of $52 billion. The European and Asia/Pacific regions also reported outflows, while South Africa posted an inflow.

At the end of the third quarter of 2004, assets of equity funds represented 43 percent of all worldwide mutual fund assets. The asset share of money market funds was 22 percent, while that of bond funds was 21 percent. Balanced/mixed funds represented 9 percent of the total.

Percent of Worldwide Mutual Fund Assets by Type of Fund, 2004:Q3

By region, 57 percent of worldwide assets were in the Americas in the third 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:Q3

At the end of the third quarter of 2004, the number of mutual funds worldwide stood at 54,446. By type of fund, 41 percent were equity funds, 24 percent were bond funds, 21 percent were balanced/mixed funds, and 7 percent were money market funds.

Percent of Worldwide Mutual Funds by Type of Fund, 2004:Q3

Total Net Assets, 1999-2004:Q3
(billions of U.S. dollars, end of period)

		1999	2000	2001	2002	2003:Q3	2003:Q4	2004:Q1	2004:Q2	2004:Q3
All Reporting Countries1		11,762	11,871	11,655	11,324	12,828	14,048	14,555	14,495	14,472
	Equity	5,993	5,962	5,134	4,204	5,091	5,924	6,265	6,346	6,283
	Bond	2,156	2,077	2,212	2,529	2,914	3,040	3,014	2,928	3,003
	Money Market	2,396	2,483	2,986	3,190	3,185	3,206	3,314	3,250	3,195
	Balanced/Mixed	967	1,022	942	923	1,066	1,204	1,241	1,244	1,256
	Other	192	190	190	229	262	311	334	332	331
Countries Reporting in Every Period2		11,431	11,452	11,199	10,767	12,254	13,299	13,770	13,706	13,760
	Equity	5,828	5,809	5,007	4,084	4,992	5,767	6,102	6,188	6,164
	Bond	2,095	2,025	2,152	2,456	2,848	2,946	2,891	2,811	2,902
	Money Market	2,390	2,475	2,970	3,159	3,141	3,157	3,286	3,214	3,167
	Balanced/Mixed	935	962	888	865	1,014	1,134	1,174	1,175	1,199
	Other	183	181	182	202	260	296	317	317	328

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.

Source: National mutual fund associations; Fédération Européenne des Fonds et Sociétés d'Investissement (FEFSI) provides data for all European countries except Romania and Russia

Net Sales,¹ 2001-2004:Q3
(billions of U.S. dollars)

		2001	2002	2003	2003:Q3	2003:Q4	2004:Q1	2004:Q2	2004:Q3
All Reporting Countries2		904	239	317	65	73	247	22	22
	Equity	151	51	283	102	116	142	75	40
	Bond	196	145	176	6	-4	58	-12	19
	Money Market	531	12	-212	-76	-67	4	-58	-56
	Balanced/Mixed	8	9	56	28	23	40	4	13
	Other	19	23	14	6	5	3	13	5
Countries Reporting in Every Period3		784	201	165	22	25	181	-14	15
	Equity	115	39	250	89	94	123	62	30
	Bond	144	136	85	-14	-20	31	-20	20
	Money Market	515	8	-218	-75	-66	-8	-62	-50
	Balanced/Mixed	1	13	41	21	16	33	5	12
	Other	9	5	6	2	1	0	0	0

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.

Source: National mutual fund associations; Fédération Européenne des Fonds et Sociétés d'Investissement (FEFSI) provides data for all European countries except Romania and Russia.

Number of Funds, 1999-2004:Q3
(end of period)

			1999	2000	2001	2002	2003:Q3	2003:Q4	2004:Q1	2004:Q2	2004:Q3
All Reporting Countries1			52,746	51,692	52,849	54,110	54,113	54,570	55,167	54,577	54,990
	Equity		22,453	20,381	22,348	22,975	22,477	22,690	22,509	22,397	22,555
	Bond		15,474	13,128	12,183	11,617	11,970	11,885	13,905	13,017	13,212
	Money Market		6,745	4,692	4,277	4,394	4,828	4,973	3,426	3,773	3,700
	Balanced/Mixed		6,375	11,110	11,155	11,229	11,455	11,466	11,624	11,624	11,549
	Other		612	1,000	1,195	1,310	1,414	1,578	1,668	1,751	1,919
Countries Reporting in Every Period2			35,962	39,367	41,620	42,393	41,942	41,690	42,168	41,871	42,181
	Equity		15,656	18,637	20,630	20,809	20,230	20,020	19,875	19,802	19,921
	Bond		10,867	10,176	9,830	9,944	9,925	9,846	10,633	9,781	9,862
	Money Market		2,701	2,786	2,727	2,674	2,654	2,651	2,403	2,932	2,928
	Balanced/Mixed		6,149	6,926	7,500	7,724	7,809	7,858	7,891	7,936	8,029
	Other		589	842	933	1,242	1,324	1,315	1,366	1,420	1,441

¹ Components may not sum to total because of unclassified funds.
² Number of countries is 24.

Source: National mutual fund associations; Fédération Européenne des Fonds et Sociétés d'Investissement (FEFSI) provides data for all European countries except Romania and Russia