The firm’s latest Fundflash said long-term fund sales in Europe (excluding money market funds) actually nudged up slightly in August to €18.5bn, compared to €15.5bn in July, but outflows from equity funds worsened (-€5.7bn).
This was led by equity fund outflows of €2.8bn from UK investors, a situation Lipper said might well be temporary but proved the market had “changed beyond recognition”.
It added, however, that hot spots in some bond and mixed asset sectors revealed British fund buyers remained very willing to invest in certain situations.
The UK still holds the top spot in terms of single-country total net assets, but it grew by only 0.1% or €700m in August, compared to growth of 1.3% from France, 1.2% from Italy and 0.4% from Germany, which showed monthly asset growth of €3.4bn, €3.2bn and €1.9bn respectively.
“Having picked up Italian investors’ appetite for ‘home grown’ products last month, it is interesting to see the market’s contribution to the European industry total has been healthy again this month,” said Lipper.
The country was top for estimated single-country net sales, with €780m, followed by Finland with €625m and Sweden with €527m.