Worldwide Mutual Fund Assets and Flows
Fourth Quarter 2003

Washington, DC, May 4, 2004 - Mutual fund assets worldwide rose to $13.96 trillion at the end of the fourth quarter of 2003, an increase of about 9 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. Net cash flow to all funds worldwide was $74 billion in the fourth quarter 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 fourth quarter of 2003 contains statistics from 39 countries.

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

In the fourth quarter of 2003, 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 fourth quarter in most reporting countries. Weakness in the U.S. dollar also contributed to the dollar-measured increase in assets.

Worldwide assets of equity funds increased 15.5 percent during the fourth quarter, posting $5.9 trillion at quarter-end. Stock price indexes rose in almost every country in the fourth quarter and net cash flow into equity funds increased to $116 billion in the quarter. Reflecting net new cash flow into equity funds in the United States, the Americas' flows amounted to $66 billion in the fourth quarter after garnering a similar amount in the third quarter. After posting strong inflows of $28 billion to equity funds in Europe in the third quarter, European equity fund net inflows rose to $44 billion in the fourth quarter. Japan bolstered the Asia/Pacific region's equity fund flows. Assets of balanced/mixed funds rose 12.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2003, buoyed by net inflows of $23 billion.

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

Bond fund assets worldwide increased 3.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2003 despite small net outflows. The cash outflow was $4 billion in the fourth quarter, down from a $6 billion inflow in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter of 2003, bond funds in the Americas experienced small net inflows, while the European and Asian/Pacific regions reported outflows from bond funds.

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	2003:Q4
All Funds		128	9	-27	168	44	136	65	74
	Equity	84	29	-58	12	-9	74	102	116
	Bond	30	11	52	37	86	88	6	-4
	Money Market	-7	-44	-12	115	-31	-38	-76	-67
	Balanced/Mixed	12	8	-12	-1	-3	9	28	23
	Other	9	5	4	5	0	3	6	5

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, and 2003:Q4. 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.

Money market fund assets worldwide were about unchanged in the fourth quarter. Money market mutual funds experienced a total net outflow of $67 billion in the fourth quarter: an outflow of $50 billion from money market mutual funds in the United States, combined with an outflow of $12 billion in Europe, and a $6 billion outflow in the Asia/Pacific region.

At year-end 2003, assets of equity funds represented 42 percent of all worldwide mutual fund assets. The asset share of money market funds was 23 percent, while that of bond funds was 22 percent. Balanced/mixed funds represented 9 percent of the total.

Percent of Worldwide Mutual Fund Assets By Type of Fund, 2003:Q4

Note: Components do not add to 100 percent because of rounding.

By region, 57 percent of worldwide assets were in the Americas at year-end 2003, 33 percent were in Europe, and 10 percent in Africa and Asia/Pacific.

Percent of Worldwide Mutual Fund Assets By Region, 2003:Q4

At year-end 2003, the number of mutual funds worldwide stood at 54,015. By type of fund, 41 percent were equity funds, 22 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, 2003:Q4

Note: Components do not add to 100 percent because of rounding.

Total Net Assets, 1999-2003:Q4
(Billions of U.S. dollars, end of period)

		1999	2000	2001	2002	2003:Q1	2003:Q2	2003:Q3	2003:Q4
All Reporting Countries1		11,391	11,871	11,655	11,324	11,223	12,383	12,831	13,958
	Equity	5,878	5,962	5,134	4,204	3,996	4,733	5,091	5,882
	Bond	2,104	2,077	2,212	2,529	2,652	2,873	2,914	3,010
	Money Market	2,287	2,483	2,986	3,190	3,200	3,219	3,185	3,205
	Balanced/Mixed	971	1,022	942	923	906	1,015	1,066	1,201
	Other	55	190	190	229	214	245	262	298
Countries Reporting in Every Period2		11,023	11,110	10,865	10,410	10,376	11,403	11,797	12,781
	Equity	5,713	5,697	4,885	3,961	3,786	4,491	4,827	5,577
	Bond	2,043	1,982	2,120	2,422	2,562	2,769	2,807	2,895
	Money Market	2,282	2,402	2,901	3,080	3,083	3,082	3,045	3,047
	Balanced/Mixed	939	965	888	865	861	965	1,014	1,140
	Other	47	64	71	82	84	97	105	121

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 2001-2003:Q4
(Billions of U.S. dollars)

		2001	2002	2003	2002:Q4	2003:Q1	2003:Q2	2003:Q3	2003:Q4
All Reporting Countries2		894	279	319	168	44	136	65	74
	Equity	151	66	283	12	-9	74	102	116
	Bond	199	130	176	37	86	88	6	-4
	Money Market	530	52	-212	115	-31	-38	-76	-67
	Balanced/Mixed	5	7	57	-1	-3	9	28	23
	Other	10	23	14	5	0	3	6	5
Countries Reporting in Every Period3		784	240	165	155	26	91	22	25
	Equity	115	55	250	12	-2	69	89	94
	Bond	144	121	85	32	68	52	-14	-20
	Money Market	515	48	-218	115	-38	-39	-76	-66
	Balanced/Mixed	1	11	41	-5	-4	8	22	16
	Other	9	5	6	1	2	1	2	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, 1999-2003:Q4
(End of period)

		1999	2000	2001	2002	2003:Q1	2003:Q2	2003:Q3	2003:Q4
All Reporting Countries1		52,746	51,692	52,849	54,110	53,454	53,847	54,120	54,015
	Equity	22,453	20,381	22,348	22,975	22,715	22,568	22,478	22,366
	Bond	15,474	13,128	12,183	11,617	11,648	11,844	11,968	11,754
	Money Market	6,745	4,692	4,277	4,394	4,552	4,786	4,827	4,957
	Balanced/Mixed	6,375	11,110	11,155	11,229	11,210	11,285	11,456	11,553
	Other	612	1,000	1,195	1,310	1,380	1,405	1,414	1,407
Countries Reporting in Every Period2		35,962	39,367	41,620	42,393	42,137	42,016	41,941	41,690
	Equity	15,656	18,637	20,630	20,809	20,586	20,375	20,231	20,020
	Bond	10,867	10,176	9,830	9,944	9,903	9,898	9,923	9,846
	Money Market	2,701	2,786	2,727	2,674	2,665	2,673	2,653	2,651
	Balanced/Mixed	6,149	6,926	7,500	7,724	7,678	7,751	7,810	7,858
	Other	589	842	933	1,242	1,305	1,319	1,324	1,315

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.