Vanguard's Cowell: Three key passive trends for Europe

European passives attracted €40bn last year

Neil Cowell, head of UK retail sales at Vanguard, discusses the next stage in the evolution of passive products.

Passive investing is on the rise. That is an unsurprising statement from a global provider of index funds. But such a blunt statement hides three underlying trends. Three quarters of net inflows in the European fund industry in 2016 went into traditional tracker funds and exchange-traded funds, according to data from Mackay Williams. Warren Buffett: Billions being 'wasted' on active management fees Passive bond funds in Europe had a record year with €40bn inflows, which was just over half of all bond fund inflows. Meanwhile, equity trackers attracted €25bn against a €85bn tide of n...