Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, global equity funds have witnessed the biggest outflows in the week to March 2 as investors sought safer options for their assets, since mid-December 2021.
Investors offloaded global equity funds worth a net $13.09 billion, in their largest weekly net selling since December 15, Refinitiv Lipper data showed.
Meanwhile, the rush for safety led inflows of $15.9bn into money market funds, their biggest net purchases in eight weeks.
European equity funds were under intense selling pressure, facing outflows of $15.06bn. Investors also sold $1.7bn worth of US equity funds but purchased Asian funds worth $2.78bn.
Financials lost $3.76bn in net selling, the biggest weekly outflows since at least April 2020. Investors also sold $623 million and $543m of consumer discretionary and tech funds respectively, but purchased energy sector funds of $867m.
Investors jettisoned global bond funds of $11.66bn in an eighth straight week of net selling.
Short- and medium-term global bond funds witnessed net selling worth $5.8bn, a 88 percent higher outflow compared with the previous week, while high-yield bond funds accounted for a $2.31bn worth of outflow, in an eighth consecutive week of net selling.
Meanwhile, government bond funds lured purchases of $4.23bn, marking the biggest weekly inflow since Dec. 8, while inflation-protected funds attracted $610m.
Among commodity funds, demand for precious metal funds surged to a five-week high as they obtained inflows of $1.46bn. However, energy funds booked marginal outflows worth $25m, after the third week of purchases.
As a conclusion, an analysis of around 24,438 emerging market funds showcased the sold bond funds of $3.98 billion by the investors since April 2020, whereas equity funds saw the average selling value at $731 million.
