Worldwide Mutual Fund Assets and Flows
Fourth Quarter 2004

Washington, DC, May 2, 2005 - At the end of 2004, mutual fund assets worldwide were $16.06 trillion, having increased 14.3 percent over the year. In the fourth quarter alone, worldwide mutual fund assets grew 9.7 percent, as stock-market price indexes rose in nearly all reporting nations. Net cash flow to all funds worldwide picked up in the fourth quarter to $165 billion, compared with $22 billion in the third quarter. Long-term funds experienced strong inflows, while outflows from money market funds diminished in the fourth 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 fourth quarter of 2004 contains statistics from 40 countries.

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

Buoyed by positive stock market performance and an increase in cash flows, equity, bond, and balanced fund assets experienced significant increases, while money market fund assets also edged up. Worldwide assets of equity funds were $7.2 trillion at the end of the fourth quarter of 2004, 13.7 percent higher than in the third quarter, as stock price indexes rose in nearly all of the reporting countries. Net new cash flow into equity funds worldwide was $100 billion in the fourth quarter, compared with $40 billion in the third quarter. The Americas reported net inflows of $59 billion into equity funds in the fourth quarter of 2004, while Europe reported $27 billion, and the Asian/Pacific and African regions, $14 billion. Assets of balanced/mixed funds rose 13.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2004, with reported net inflows of $24 billion.

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

*Excludes Netherlands from 2004:Q3 and 2004:Q4 because data are not available at this time for 2004:Q4.

Bond fund assets worldwide increased 8.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2004, boosted in part by a net inflow of $43 billion. In the fourth quarter of 2004, all regions reported inflows to bond funds, with nearly two-thirds of the flows occurring in Europe and about one-third of the flows occurring in the Americas.

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

		2003					2004
		Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4		Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4
All Funds		44	136	65	73		248	22	22	165
	Equity	-9	74	102	116		142	75	40	100
	Bond	86	88	6	-4		58	-12	19	43
	Money Market	-31	-38	-76	-67		5	-58	-57	-10
	Balanced/Mixed	-3	9	28	23		40	4	13	24
	Other	0	3	6	5		3	13	5	8

Note: Twenty-nine countries reported net sales in 2003:Q1; 30 countries reported in 2003:Q2, 2003:Q3, 2003:Q4, and 2004:Q1; 31 countries reported in 2004:Q2; 30 countries reported in 2004:Q3 and 2004:Q4. Assets of reporting countries represented 92 percent of assets of all countries at the end of 2004: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 increased 3.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2004, despite small reported net outflows of $10 billion in the quarter. The bulk of the outflow occurred in Europe, with France, Germany, and Italy experiencing a combined outflow of $21 billion from money market funds.

At the end of the fourth quarter of 2004, assets of equity funds represented 45 percent of all worldwide mutual fund assets. The asset share of money market funds was 21 percent, while that of bond funds was 20 percent. Balanced/mixed funds represented 9 percent of the total.

Worldwide Mutual Fund Assets by Type of Fund, 2004:Q4
(percent)

By region, 55 percent of worldwide assets were in the Americas in the fourth quarter of 2004, 34 percent were in Europe, and 11 percent in Africa and Asia/Pacific.

Worldwide Mutual Fund Assets by Region, 2004:Q4
(percent)

At the end of the fourth quarter of 2004, the number of mutual funds worldwide stood at 54,986. 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.

Worldwide Mutual Funds by Type of Fund, 2004:Q4
(percent)

Total Net Assets, 1999 - 2004:Q4
(billions of U.S. dollars, end of period)

		1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
							Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4
All Reporting Countries1		11,762	11,871	11,655	11,324	14,048	14,554	14,495	14,648	16,063
	Equity	5,993	5,962	5,134	4,204	5,924	6,266	6,349	6,350	7,172
	Bond	2,156	2,077	2,212	2,529	3,040	3,016	2,930	3,049	3,287
	Money Market	2,396	2,483	2,986	3,190	3,206	3,311	3,247	3,215	3,321
	Balanced/Mixed	967	1,022	942	923	1,204	1,240	1,243	1,277	1,431
	Other	192	190	190	229	311	334	332	345	384
Countries Reporting in Every Period2		11,431	11,452	11,199	10,767	13,299	13,769	13,707	13,836	15,246
	Equity	5,828	5,809	5,007	4,084	5,767	6,104	6,191	6,189	7,031
	Bond	2,095	2,025	2,152	2,456	2,946	2,923	2,844	2,961	3,217
	Money Market	2,390	2,475	2,970	3,159	3,157	3,253	3,181	3,148	3,254
	Balanced/Mixed	935	962	888	865	1,134	1,173	1,175	1,208	1,364
	Other	183	181	182	202	296	317	317	330	380

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; European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA, formerly FEFSI) provides data for all European countries except Romania and Russia.

Net Sales,¹ 2001 - 2004:Q4
(billions of U.S. dollars)

		2001	2002	2003	2003		2004
					Q3	Q4	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4
All Reporting Countries2		904	239	317	65	73	248	22	22	165
	Equity	151	51	283	102	116	142	75	40	100
	Bond	196	145	176	6	-4	58	-12	19	43
	Money Market	531	12	-212	-76	-67	5	-58	-57	-10
	Balanced/Mixed	8	9	56	28	23	40	4	13	24
	Other	19	23	14	6	5	3	13	5	8
Countries Reporting in Every Period3		784	201	165	22	25	182	-14	15	124
	Equity	115	39	250	89	94	123	62	31	83
	Bond	144	136	85	-14	-20	31	-20	20	31
	Money Market	515	8	-218	-75	-66	-8	-62	-50	-11
	Balanced/Mixed	1	13	41	21	16	33	5	12	19
	Other	9	5	6	2	1	0	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; European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA, formerly FEFSI) provides data for all European countries except Romania and Russia.

Number of Funds, 1999 - 2004:Q4
(end of period)

		1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
							Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4
All Reporting Countries1		52,746	51,692	52,849	54,110	54,570	55,167	54,577	54,990	54,986
	Equity	22,453	20,381	22,348	22,975	22,690	22,509	22,397	22,555	22,365
	Bond	15,474	13,128	12,183	11,617	11,885	11,216	13,017	13,212	13,310
	Money Market	6,745	4,692	4,277	4,394	4,973	3,426	3,773	3,700	3,623
	Balanced/Mixed	6,375	11,110	11,155	11,229	11,466	11,624	11,624	11,549	11,603
	Other	612	1,000	1,195	1,310	1,578	1,668	1,751	1,919	1,997
Countries Reporting in Every Period2		35,962	39,367	41,620	42,393	41,690	42,168	41,871	42,181	42,358
	Equity	15,656	18,637	20,630	20,809	20,020	19,875	19,802	19,921	19,921
	Bond	10,867	10,176	9,830	9,944	9,846	10,633	9,781	9,862	9,962
	Money Market	2,701	2,786	2,727	2,674	2,651	2,403	2,932	2,928	2,899
	Balanced/Mixed	6,149	6,926	7,500	7,724	7,858	7,891	7,936	8,029	8,095
	Other	589	842	933	1,242	1,315	1,366	1,420	1,441	1,481

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

Source: National mutual fund associations; European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA, formerly FEFSI) provides data for all European countries except Romania and Russia.