Funds invested in European equities returned to posting net inflows last week as institutional investors moved away from lower-yielding money markets on expectations of further monetary stimulus and possible inflation, Lipper and EPFR Global data shows.
U.S. funds invested in European shares took in $66.3 million in the seven days to Feb. 20, offsetting part of the net outflows recorded in the previous week, although the value of their assets shrank by 0.5 percent due to a fall in share prices, according to data by Lipper, a Thomson Reuters company.
The inflows were driven by money invested through Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), which are typically used by institutional investors, and came as global money market funds recorded their biggest outflow since October.
EPFR data shows a worldwide basket of funds invested in European equities had their best week since early December, snapping two consecutive weeks of net outflows.
Among major country-specific European fund groups, only France, Austria and the Netherlands posted outflows while commitments to Swedish equity funds hit their highest weekly total since EPFR started tracking them in 2005.
"Despite the (U.S. Federal Reserve's) recent efforts... investors clearly believe it has more to do to stimulate the economy and generate meaningful inflation," says Cameron Brandt, director of research at EPFR Global.
Reuters messaging rm://francesco.canepa.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net
