Worldwide Mutual Fund Assets And Flows
Fourth Quarter 2002

Washington, DC, April 15, 2003 - Assets of worldwide mutual funds rose 5.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2002 to $11.2 trillion. 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 fourth quarter includes statistics from 37 countries. (Note: These data may have been revised in subsequent releases.)

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

The fourth-quarter increase in assets was broadly based, with the vast majority of countries posting higher assets. In addition, assets of all major types of funds increased during the quarter. Money market funds posted an asset increase of 5.3 percent on strength in net inflows, especially in the United States. Equity funds assets were up 5.1 percent, boosted by higher stock prices throughout the world. Equity funds experienced a small net inflow in the fourth quarter, reversing an outflow in the previous quarter. Bond fund assets increased 4.3 percent in the fourth quarter, benefiting from lower interest rates and continued new investments. Assets of balanced/mixed funds were up 6.1 percent.

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

For the year as a whole, worldwide mutual fund assets dropped 3.6 percent. A weak dollar moderated the decline, as many countries experienced much larger asset decreases measured in local currencies. The decline in assets in 2002 principally reflected weakness in stock markets. In the United States, broad market indexes declined about 22 percent, while major European and Asian market indexes dropped 20 - 44 percent. As a result, assets of equity funds ended 2002 down 18.7 percent. Also reflecting the downward movement in stock prices, balanced/mixed funds posted a drop of 3.3 percent in assets. In contrast, assets of bond funds rose 13.4 percent, while money market fund assets increased 6.8 percent in 2002.

The net flow of new cash to all funds was $190 billion in 2002, down from $891 billion in 2001. For 2002 as a whole, equity funds recorded a net inflow of $40 billion. Stock market weakness and volatility in the summer, however, was accompanied by a third-quarter outflow from equity funds, primarily those located in the United States, Canada, and Europe. The third-quarter outflow was relatively small, amounting to only 1.5 percent of equity funds assets. In contrast to funds in the United States, Canada, and Europe, equity funds in the Asia/Pacific region generally experienced strong inflows throughout the year.

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

		2001:H1		2002:H2		2002:Q1		2002:Q2		2002:Q3		2002:Q4
All Funds		891		190		97		-15		-45		153
	Equity	151		40		80		21		-64		3
	Bond	197		117		28		9		48		32
	Money Market	529		12		-27		-57		-20		117
	Balanced/Mixed	5		-5		7		6		-14		-4
	Other	9		23		9		5		4		5

Note: Twenty-three countries reported net sales in 2001, 26 countries reported in 2002:Q1, 25 countries reported in 2002:Q2 and 2002:Q3, 26 countries reported in 2002:Q4, and 24 countries reported for all four quarters in 2002. Assets of reporting countries represented 85 percent of assets of all countries at the end of 2002:Q4. Net sales are new sales plus reinvested dividends less redemptions plus net exchanges. Components may not sum to the total because of rounding.

The net flow to money market funds was $12 billion in 2002, down from $529 billion in 2001. The falloff primarily reflected large outflows in the United States over the first three quarters of 2002. The inflow to bond funds declined to $117 billion in 2002 from $197 billion in 2001. U.S. bond funds continued to experience a large inflow, but the inflow to European bond funds slowed during 2002 while bond funds in the Asia/Pacific region experienced an outflow.

At the end of the fourth quarter of 2002, assets of equity funds represented 37 percent of all worldwide mutual fund assets, while the share of money market funds was 28 percent and that of bond funds was 22 percent.

Composition of Worldwide Mutual Fund Assets By Type of Fund, 2002:Q4
(percent of total assets, end of quarter)

By region, 60 percent of worldwide assets were in the Americas at the end of 2002, 30 percent in Europe, and about 10 percent in Africa and Asia/Pacific.

Composition of Worldwide Mutual Fund Assets By Region, 2002:Q4
(percent of total assets, end of quarter)

The number of mutual funds worldwide stood at 53,040 at the end of 2002, up from 52,589 at the end of 2001. By type of fund, 43 percent of the funds were equity funds, 22 percent were bond funds, 21 percent were balanced/mixed funds, and 8 percent were money market funds.

Composition of Worldwide Mutual Funds By Type of Fund, 2002:Q4
(percent of funds, end of quarter)

Total Net Assets, 1998-2002
(billions of U.S. dollars, end of period)

		1998	1999	2000	2001:Q3	2001:Q4	2002:Q1	2002:Q2	2002:Q3	2002:Q4
All Reporting Countries		9,299	11,391	11,867	10,894	11,635	11,763	11,559	10,663	11,217
	Equity	4,137	5,878	5,962	4,534	5,132	5,240	4,814	3,971	4,173
	Bond	2,173	2,104	2,077	2,189	2,203	2,201	2,336	2,395	2,499
	Money Market	2,071	2,287	2,480	2,946	2,982	2,973	3,027	3,025	3,185
	Balanced/Mixed	810	971	1,022	892	938	944	951	855	907
	Other	58	55	190	168	189	195	205	190	202
Countries Reporting in Every Period1,2		9,025	11,025	11,112	10,254	10,867	11,034	10,781	9,910	10,412
	Equity	4,017	5,713	5,697	4,353	4,885	5,029	4,598	3,772	3,965
	Bond	2,109	2,044	1,984	2,121	2,122	2,137	2,261	2,317	2,422
	Money Market	2,066	2,282	2,403	2,867	2,901	2,887	2,934	2,929	3,080
	Balanced/Mixed	782	940	965	849	888	903	908	815	862
	Other	51	47	64	64	71	77	80	76	82

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

Net Sales,¹ 2000-2002
(billions of U.S. dollars)

		2000:H1	2000:H2	2001:H1	2001:H2	2002:Q1	2002:Q2	2002:Q3	2002:Q4
All Reporting Countries		509	365	580	313	97	-16	-45	153
	Equity	375	209	126	25	80	21	-64	3
	Bond	-85	13	113	86	28	9	48	32
	Money Market	122	75	329	200	-27	-57	-20	117
	Balanced/Mixed	5	4	7	-2	7	6	-14	-4
	Other	-1	1	4	5	9	5	4	5
Countries Reporting in Every Period2,3		337	265	454	233	68	-18	-38	140
	Equity	355	181	77	7	69	16	-60	3
	Bond	-89	10	82	52	16	12	56	28
	Money Market	87	83	293	175	-29	-54	-23	117
	Balanced/Mixed	-15	-11	-3	-6	10	7	-11	-8
	Other	-1	2	4	5	2	2	0	0

Source: National mutual fund associations; Fédération Européenne des Fonds et Sociétés d'Investissement (FEFSI) provides data for all European countries except for Romania, Russia, and Turkey.
¹ Net sales are new sales plus reinvested dividends less redemptions plus net exchanges. Before 2002, net sales were reported semiannually.
² Components may not sum to total because of rounding or unclassified funds.

Number of Funds, 1998-2002
(end of period)

		1998	1999	2000	2001:Q3	2001:Q4	2002:Q1	2002:Q2	2002:Q3	2002:Q4
All Reporting Countries1		50,365	52,767	51,557	52,740	52,589	53,105	52,413	52,979	53,040
	Equity	15,465	22,463	20,337	22,004	22,329	22,748	22,847	22,969	22,845
	Bond	11,261	15,491	13,113	12,430	12,012	12,006	11,573	11,646	11,503
	Money Market	3,050	6,739	4,648	4,464	4,188	4,207	4,108	4,226	4,346
	Balanced/Mixed	5,754	6,375	11,110	11,006	11,110	11,283	11,032	11,266	11,183
	Other	514	612	968	1,196	1,259	1,160	1,117	1,099	1,258
Countries Reporting in Every Period2		34,403	36,076	39,453	41,314	41,955	42,150	42,383	42,602	42,405
	Equity	14,477	15,687	18,661	20,378	20,769	21,011	21,031	21,099	20,817
	Bond	10,891	10,915	10,203	9,917	9,868	9,875	9,928	9,957	9,947
	Money Market	2,926	2,710	2,802	2,750	2,748	2,734	2,699	2,686	2,674
	Balanced/Mixed	5,616	6,175	6,945	7,300	7,530	7,545	7,728	7,775	7,725
	Other	493	589	842	969	1,040	985	997	1,085	1,242

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