De Nederlandsche Bank: Total assets managed by Dutch investment funds drop by 4.5% in Q2-2015 for the first time in two years

The second quarter of 2015 saw total assets managed by Dutch investment funds drop, by 4.5% (EUR 36.4 billion), for the first time in two years. Value decreases in the funds’ investments (-3.6% return) were the primary cause of the decline. Also, investors withdrew a total of EUR 7.0 billion.

AMSTERDAM, 18-8-2015 — /EuropaWire/ — In the second quarter of 2015, total assets managed by Dutch investment funds fell by EUR 36.4 billion (-4.5% quarter-on-quarter), from EUR 808 billion to EUR 772 billion (see Figure 1). Equity and bond funds showed the largest decrease, shedding EUR 22.1 billion (-7.4% quarter-on-quarter) and EUR 13.5 billion (-4.8% quarter-on-quarter), respectively. This development contrasts with that in the previous quarter, when equity and bond funds saw their assets grow by EUR 24.7 billion and EUR 20.8 billion, respectively.

The fall in invested assets was predominantly caused by a drop in value of the investments amounting EUR 24.4 billion (-3.1% of total assets). This was driven by combined price and exchange rate effects, which were most prominent among bond funds (EUR 12.9 billion, -4.8%) and equity funds (EUR 11.7 billion, -4.2%) (see Figure 2). This is in line with the overall development seen in the financial markets. Only the ‘other funds’ category reported investment gains totalling EUR 5.7 billion (+6.5%), fuelled mainly by a rise in commodity prices.

The drop in the value of investments was mitigated to some extent by positive income from interest and dividends of EUR 5.5 billion. The lion’s share of this income was dividend, which is typically distributed in the second quarter. Total returns of all investment institutions (value changes plus interest and dividend) came to -3.6% in the second quarter of 2015, relative to +10.1% in the previous quarter.

At EUR 7.0 billion, net withdrawals from units issued (see Figure 3) further dampened the investment funds’ asset growth. Institutional investors, in particular, made withdrawals from the investment funds, with pension funds withdrawing EUR 4.7 billion on balance, and insurers EUR 1.5 billion on balance. The different asset classes showed a mixed picture. Whereas equity funds faced EUR 14.0 billion (-5.1%) in net withdrawals, bond funds registered net increases (EUR 2.8 billion, +1.0%), as did ‘other funds’ (EUR 4.9 billion, +5.6%).

Links
Statistics.dnb.nl – Investmentfunds