Worldwide Mutual Fund Assets And Flows
Fourth Quarter 2006

Washington, DC, April 19, 2007 - Mutual fund assets worldwide increased 7.6 percent to $21.76 trillion at the end of the fourth quarter of 2006. For the year as a whole, assets grew 22.5 percent, the strongest growth since 2003. Net cash flow to all funds worldwide increased to $404 billion in the fourth quarter, from $252 billion in the third quarter of 2006. Inflows to long-term funds were $261 billion in the fourth quarter, about twice as high as the pace of net flows in the second and third quarters, but below the first-quarter pace of $409 billion. Inflows to money market funds continued to accelerate, with flows of $143 billion in the fourth quarter after reaching $124 billion in the third quarter. On an annual basis, net cash flow to all funds was $1.30 trillion in 2006, 33.8 percent higher than in 2005.

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 2006 contains statistics from 42 countries.

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

On a U.S.-dollar-denominated basis, asset levels increased in all investment categories. Assets of equity funds grew 10.0 percent, with $10.5 trillion in assets at the end of the fourth quarter of 2006. Bond funds were up 4.3 percent and money market funds grew 4.9 percent in the quarter.¹ Assets of balanced/mixed funds increased 7.9 percent to $2.1 trillion at the end of the fourth quarter. For the year, assets of balanced/mixed funds grew 32.5 percent compared to 26.2 percent for equity funds and less than 15 percent for both bond and money market funds.

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

Net cash flow to mutual funds worldwide was $404 billion in the fourth quarter of 2006, with both long-term funds and money market funds experiencing aggregate net inflows. Equity fund flows worldwide were $150 billion in the fourth quarter, compared with $65 billion in the third quarter. The Americas accounted for $79 billion of equity flows, the Asia/Pacific region for $36 billion of equity flows, and Europe for $35 billion of equity flows, up from $18 billion, $20 billion, and $26 billion, respectively, in the third quarter. Net flows to bond funds strengthened to $40 billion in the fourth quarter of 2006 after posting a net inflow of $3 billion over the past two quarters combined. Net inflows to bond funds in the United States accounted for nearly the entire fourth-quarter flow worldwide as, outside of the United States, net outflows from bond funds in South America and Europe largely offset net inflows elsewhere. Balanced fund inflows remained strong at $45 billion. Flows into money market funds were in $143 billion the fourth quarter, up from $124 billion in the third quarter.² The United States accounted for $145 billion of money market inflows in the fourth quarter, up from $101 billion in the third quarter.

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

			2005				2006
			Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4
All Funds			215	166	305	284	437	206	252	404
	Equity		103	65	87	160	246	74	65	150
	Bond		99	49	89	-14	65	-5	8	40
	Money Market		-21	*	59	81	28	71	124	143
	Balanced/Mixed		11	26	37	34	73	48	38	45
	Other		22	25	32	22	25	19	18	26

Less than $0.5 billion.
Note: Thirty-One countries reported in 2004:Q4; 32 countries reported in 2005:Q1, 2005:Q2, 2005:Q3, and 2005:Q4; 33 countries reported in 2006:Q1 and 2006:Q2; and 34 countries in 2006:Q3 and 2006:Q4. Assets of reporting countries represented 92 percent of assets of all countries at the end of 2006:Q4. In 2006:Q3, a reclassification of some funds in Brazil boosted reported balanced fund flows and damped reported bond fund flows. Net sales are new sales plus reinvested dividends less redemptions plus net exchanges. Components may not sum to the total because of rounding.

Equity fund assets represented the bulk of all worldwide mutual fund assets: At the end of the fourth quarter of 2006, 48 percent of worldwide mutual fund assets were equity funds. The asset share of bond funds was 18 percent and money market funds were also 18 percent of the total. Balanced/mixed fund assets represented 10 percent of the total.

Worldwide Mutual Fund Assets By Type Of Fund, 2006:Q4
(percent)

Note: Other/unclassified includes the total net assets of Ireland.

By region, 53 percent of worldwide assets were in the Americas in the fourth quarter of 2006, 36 percent were in Europe, and 12 percent in Africa and Asia/Pacific.

Worldwide Mutual Fund Assets by Region, 2006:Q4
(percent)

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

The number of mutual funds worldwide stood at 61,506 at the end of the fourth quarter of 2006. By type of fund, 42 percent were equity funds, 22 percent were bond funds, 20 percent were balanced/mixed funds, and 6 percent were money market funds.

Worldwide Mutual Funds by Type of Fund, 2006:Q4
(percent)

Note: Other/unclassified includes total funds in Ireland.

Total Net Assets, 2001-2006:Q4
Billions of U.S. dollars, end of period

		2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
							Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4
All Reporting Countries1		11,655	11,324	14,048	16,165	17,771	19,113	19,416	20,219	21,765
	Equity	5,134	4,204	5,923	7,219	8,333	9,229	9,180	9,556	10,513
	Bond	2,212	2,534	3,047	3,313	3,450	3,591	3,636	3,710	3,870
	Money Market	2,986	3,190	3,206	3,323	3,364	3,413	3,557	3,685	3,864
	Balanced/Mixed	942	918	1,198	1,445	1,566	1,717	1,802	1,923	2,074
	Other	190	229	311	398	512	567	602	619	676
Countries Reporting in Every Period2		11,199	10,767	13,300	15,246	16,731	17,910	18,162	18,859	20,312
	Equity	5,007	4,084	5,766	7,031	8,123	8,974	8,928	9,290	10,219
	Bond	2,152	2,462	2,953	3,217	3,339	3,435	3,508	3,587	3,753
	Money Market	2,970	3,159	3,157	3,254	3,289	3,329	3,449	3,571	3,736
	Balanced/Mixed	888	860	1,128	1,364	1,485	1,624	1,695	1,812	1,951
	Other	182	202	296	380	495	547	582	599	654

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

Net Sales,¹ 2003-2006:Q4
Billions of U.S. dollars

		2003	2004	2005	2006	2005	2006
						Q4	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4
All Reporting Countries2		317	457	971	1,299	284	437	206	252	404
	Equity	283	357	416	535	160	246	74	65	150
	Bond	177	109	224	108	-14	65	-5	8	40
	Money Market	-212	-120	120	365	81	28	71	124	143
	Balanced/Mixed	56	82	108	203	34	73	48	38	45
	Other	14	29	102	88	22	25	19	18	26
Countries Reporting in Every Period3		165	307	672	951	212	283	130	206	331
	Equity	250	298	317	414	121	177	62	53	123
	Bond	86	62	91	78	-33	23	0	18	38
	Money Market	-218	-131	128	336	91	26	47	117	147
	Balanced/Mixed	40	69	112	102	27	52	17	14	20
	Other	6	8	23	21	5	7	5	5	4

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

Net Sales,¹ 2001-2006:Q4
(billions of U.S. dollars)

		2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
							Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4
All Reporting Countries1		52,849	54,110	54,569	54,982	56,868	58,378	59,408	59,761	61,506
	Equity	22,348	22,974	22,688	22,362	23,264	23,956	24,417	24,572	25,584
	Bond	12,183	11,619	11,886	13,309	13,231	13,316	13,395	13,455	13,557
	Money Market	4,277	4,394	4,974	3,623	3,536	3,574	3,603	3,498	3,408
	Balanced/Mixed	11,155	11,228	11,465	11,603	11,393	11,790	12,117	11,992	12,515
	Other	1,195	1,310	1,578	1,997	3,317	3,577	3,713	3,969	4,103
Countries Reporting in Every Period2		41,620	42,393	41,689	42,354	42,427	42,984	43,660	44,011	44,993
	Equity	20,630	20,808	20,018	19,918	20,044	20,285	20,612	20,734	21,556
	Bond	9,830	9,946	9,847	9,961	10,004	10,036	10,128	10,222	10,291
	Money Market	2,727	2,674	2,652	2,899	2,799	2,818	2,818	2,710	2,596
	Balanced/Mixed	7,500	7,723	7,857	8,095	7,857	7,962	8,152	8,335	8,465
	Other	933	1,242	1,315	1,481	1,723	1,883	1,950	2,010	2,085

Source: National mutual fund associations; European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA, formerly FEFSI) provides data for all European countries except Romania and Russia.
¹ Components may not sum to total because of unclassified funds.
² Number of countries is 24.

END NOTES

1 Spain is currently revising the definition of a money market fund. In the interim, Spain has reclassified nearly all of its money market funds as bond funds. Spain reported $33.6 billion of money market fund assets in the third quarter and $138 million in the fourth quarter. It is likely that many funds previously classified as money market funds will be reclassified as such when the new definition is adopted.

2 The reclassification of money market funds in Spain should not affect reported net cash flows.