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Worldwide Regulated Open-End Fund Assets and Flows
Third Quarter 2018
Washington, DC, December 18, 2018—Worldwide regulated open-end fund assets increased 1.3 percent to $50.09 trillion at the end of the third quarter of 2018, excluding funds of funds. Worldwide net cash inflow to all funds was $178 billion in the third quarter, compared with $197 billion of net inflows in the second quarter of 2018.
The Investment Company Institute compiles worldwide open-end fund statistics on behalf of the International Investment Funds Association, the organization of national fund associations. The collection for the third quarter of 2018 contains statistics from 47 jurisdictions.
Worldwide Assets of Regulated Open-End Funds
(Trillions of US dollars, end of quarter)

Note: Regulated open-end funds include mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, and institutional funds.
The growth rate of total regulated open-end fund assets reported in US dollars was reduced by US dollar appreciation over the third quarter of 2018. For example, on a US dollar–denominated basis, fund assets in Europe decreased by 0.6 percent in the third quarter, compared with an increase of 0.2 percent on a euro-denominated basis.
Net Assets of Worldwide Regulated Open-End Funds
Billions of US dollars
2017 | 2018 | ||||||
Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | |
All funds* | 42,971 | 44,979 | 47,375 | 49,284 | 50,001 | 49,435 | 50,094 |
Long-term | 37,815 | 39,649 | 41,655 | 43,385 | 43,900 | 43,474 | 44,115 |
Equity | 18,766 | 19,585 | 20,626 | 21,826 | 21,950 | 22,121 | 22,731 |
Bond | 9,313 | 9,740 | 10,183 | 10,370 | 10,550 | 10,249 | 10,253 |
Balanced/Mixed | 5,656 | 5,919 | 6,216 | 6,398 | 6,457 | 6,256 | 6,261 |
Guaranteed | 69 | 71 | 70 | 67 | 65 | 59 | 57 |
Real Estate | 630 | 671 | 709 | 747 | 787 | 780 | 791 |
Other | 3,381 | 3,662 | 3,851 | 3,978 | 4,092 | 4,009 | 4,022 |
Money market | 5,156 | 5,330 | 5,720 | 5,900 | 6,101 | 5,961 | 5,979 |
Memo items included above: | |||||||
ETFs | 3,751 | 4,001 | 4,281 | 4,642 | 4,749 | 4,821 | 5,091 |
Institutional | 3,799 | 4,002 | 4,238 | 4,378 | 4,586 | 4,371 | 4,409 |
*Excludes Funds of Funds where possible
On a US dollar–denominated basis, equity fund assets increased by 2.8 percent to $22.73 trillion at the end of the third quarter of 2018. Bond fund assets were essentially unchanged at $10.25 trillion in the third quarter. Balanced/mixed fund assets increased by 0.1 percent to $6.26 trillion in the third quarter, while money market fund assets increased by 0.3 percent globally to $5.98 trillion.
Percentage of Worldwide Regulated Open-End Fund Assets
By type of fund, 2018:Q3 | By region, 2018:Q3 |

At the end of the third quarter of 2018, 45 percent of worldwide regulated open-end fund assets were held in equity funds. The asset share of bond funds was 20 percent and the asset share of balanced/mixed funds was 13 percent. Money market fund assets represented 12 percent of the worldwide total.
By region, 51 percent of worldwide assets were in the Americas in the third quarter of 2018, 35 percent were in Europe, and 14 percent were in Africa and the Asia-Pacific regions.
Net Sales of Worldwide Regulated Open-End Funds
Billions of US dollars
2017 | 2018 | ||||||
Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | |
All funds | 617 | 609 | 802 | 687 | 584 | 197 | 178 |
Long-term | 587 | 483 | 492 | 555 | 570 | 161 | 232 |
Equity | 174 | 124 | 142 | 283 | 263 | 25 | 91 |
Bond | 269 | 219 | 227 | 162 | 147 | 72 | 91 |
Balanced/Mixed | 73 | 69 | 61 | 73 | 83 | 19 | 12 |
Guaranteed | 2 | -1 | -3 | -3 | -2 | -2 | 0 |
Real Estate | 12 | 9 | 11 | 13 | 15 | 17 | 10 |
Other | 56 | 63 | 54 | 27 | 64 | 30 | 28 |
Money market | 30 | 126 | 310 | 132 | 14 | 36 | -53 |
Memo Items Included Above: | |||||||
ETFs | 186 | 145 | 125 | 165 | 143 | 53 | 132 |
Institutional | 74 | 46 | 75 | 90 | 117 | 18 | 77 |
Note: Forty-eight jurisdictions reported data from Q1 2017 through Q3 2017; 47 jurisdictions reported data from Q4 2017 through Q3 2018. Assets of reporting jurisdictions represented 96 percent of assets of all jurisdictions at the end of 2018: Q3. Net sales are new sales plus reinvested dividends less redemptions plus net exchanges. Components may not add to the total because of rounding or unclassified funds. Funds of funds excluded where possible.
Net sales of regulated open-end funds worldwide were $178 billion in the third quarter of 2018. Flows into equity funds worldwide were $91 billion in the third quarter, after experiencing $25 billion of net inflows in the second quarter of 2018.
Globally, bond funds posted an inflow of $91 billion in the third quarter of 2018, after recording an inflow of $72 billion in the second quarter.
Inflows from balanced/mixed funds worldwide totaled $12 billion in the third quarter of 2018, compared with $19 billion of inflows in the second quarter of 2018.
Worldwide Net Sales of Regulated Open-End Funds by Region
Billions of US dollars

Worldwide Long-Term and Money Market Net Sales
Billions of US dollars

Money market funds worldwide experienced an outflow of $53 billion in the third quarter of 2018 after registering an inflow of $36 billion in the second quarter of 2018.

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