Passive Funds in Europe Attract Record Inflows in November

In a positive month for global stock markets, passive equity fund subscriptions surged.

Valerio Baselli 19 December, 2024 | 11:24AM
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Boosted by Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential elections, global equities rose by 3.7% in November and investors poured EUR 50.6 billion into long-term Europe-domiciled funds in the month. Sentiment was also improved by interest rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve and Bank of England in November and expectations of further cuts from the European Central Bank in December.

A New Record High for Passive Funds Flows

Overall, last month equity funds received EUR 39.2 billion of net inflows, the best monthly result since April 2021. This was a one-sided story, with passive equity funds attracting EUR 39.6 billion and active equity strategies—which only had two positive months in terms of flows since March 2023—shedding EUR 400 million.

With EUR 41.2 billion of net new subscriptions, November 2024 was a record-breaking month for Europe-domiciled passive long-term funds. The previous record was set in January 2023 with EUR 35.2 billion of net inflows.

In a month of rate cuts, bond funds saw EUR 13.6 billion of net inflows in November; USD diversified bond funds and EUR ultrashort-term bond funds were the main drivers.

Allocation Funds Attracting Money Again

Allocation strategies returned to positive territory after 17 months of net redemptions, taking in EUR 1.7 billion in November. This was entirely due to the Pimco GIS Strategic Income Fund, which sits in the USD cautious allocation category, and had almost EUR 2.0 billion of net inflows last month.

Alternative funds continued to bleed assets during the month, with EUR 756 million of net outflows.

Finally, money market funds had EUR 48.9 billion of new subscriptions in November.

Index Funds Gain Market Share

Long-term index funds posted inflows of EUR 41.1 billion in November, the best monthly result ever recorded, versus the EUR 9.4 billion cashed in by actively managed funds. The table below only includes the main broad category groups.

The market share of long-term index funds rose to 29.66% as of November 2024 from 26.51% in November 2023. When including money market funds, which are the domain of active managers, the market share of index funds stood at 25.69%, up from 22.96% some 12 months earlier.

Purest ESG Funds Keep Seeing Outflows

Funds falling within the scope of Article 8 of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation had net inflows of EUR 4.5 billion in November, the seventh consecutive positive month in terms of flows. Global and US large-cap blend equity and US small-cap equity funds were the main drivers. At the same time, funds falling under Article 9 (“dark green” strategies) shed EUR 500 million, marking their 14th consecutive month of net outflows.

Article 8 funds showed a 2.22% organic growth rate year to date. On the other hand, products in the Article 9 group saw a negative 5.54% organic growth rate over the same period. Between January and November, funds not considered to be Article 8 or Article 9 according to the SFDR had average organic growth rates ranging from 2.27% to 7.10%.

Winners And Losers Among Asset Managers

Below are the 10 fund houses that raised the most and the least in Europe in November 2024, with detail between passive and active management (money market funds excluded).

Monthly Fund Flow Methodology Explained


The figures in this report were compiled on Dec. 18, 2024, and reflect only the funds that had reported net assets by that date. Approximately 31,300 Europe-domiciled open-end funds and exchange-traded funds that Morningstar tracks from more than 2,900 fund companies across 36 domiciles were included. Organic growth rate is flows as a percentage of beginning assets.

Click Here to Download the Full Report on Europe Asset Flows.


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Valerio Baselli

Valerio Baselli  is Senior International Editor at Morningstar.

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