Nervousness persisted among European investors in November amidst trade war jitters and continued uncertainty about the predicament of the global economy. Long-term funds domiciled in Europe continued to suffer net outflows for the third month running, shedding EUR 17.45 billion. This level of redemptions came well below October levels, but the high outflows from fixed-income funds and cautious-allocation funds arguably reflect the increasing concern among investors about risks stemming from overleveraged corporations, which could pose a challenge in times of central banks’ monetary tightening. Bond funds suffered redemptions of EUR 13.63 billion, the highest one-month outflows since June 2013 when the taper tantrum caught investors by surprise. The outflows of EUR 1.4 billion from convertible funds, the highest level since February 2016, also bore witness to investors’ new defensive take on corporate debt.
Surprisingly, investors were much more comfortable when taking on equity risks. Flows to equity funds rebounded from October lows with actively managed funds and index vehicles enjoying hefty inflows alike. Net new subscriptions amounted to EUR 6.34 billion, the highest levels seen in a one-month period since April of this year.
It was a totally different story for alternative funds, which continued to bleed. Hedge-fund-mimicking products suffered the highest one-month redemptions on record, driven by investors’ stampede from multistrategy funds. The most prominent victims were the two SLI Global Absolute Return Strategies funds, which hemorrhaged EUR 2.4 billion.
The outflows from money market reflect the fact that November was not all about derisking in Europe’s fund market.