Fitch: European fund assets have halved since 2007

The European equity fund market has nearly halved in size since 2007, slimming down to €314bn in assets under management at the end of September 2011, according to a Fitch report.

The sharp decline reflects substantial losses across the sector of 27% and investor redemptions of €115.5bn over the period. "Clearly, European equity has suffered an exodus, fuelled by investors' concerns over the eurozone sovereign crisis," said Charlotte Quiniou, a director in Fitch's Fund and Asset Manager Rating Group. The report, entitled 'European Equity Funds: A Snapshot', showed the most popular sector has been global equity, attracting 17% of new inflows since 2007. Emerging market funds have remained flat and US equity funds have only seen 5% of outflows over the same perio...