The data showed "meaningful total returns across all asset classes", and record net inflows into bond funds.
"Progress among selected equity, allocation, and alternative strategies" was also noted.
Assets in mutual funds across the globe rose by more than $3trn, with equity funds expanding by 15% and bond funds by 20%, SI said today in a statement outlining its findings.
Good performance added $2 trn to fund assets around the world, driven by asset-weighted returns averaging 16% for equity funds and roughly 10% for most bond strategies in the US and Europe, with "meaningful gains" in Asia and other markets, the Strategic Insight researchers found.
Net contributions by investors added another $1trn to funds, of which 78% went into bond strategies. Actively managed funds captured $625 bn of net inflows worldwide, accounting for nearly two-thirds of total gains.
Index funds and ETFs expanded mainly in the US, while in the rest of the world, actively managed funds accounted for 80% of industry inflows, according to SI.
In fact, net inflows into active strategies outside the US – totalling nearly $450bn – were 2.5 times greater than to active mutual funds in the US during 2012, the data showed.
Jag Alexeyev, head of global research at Strategic Insight, said that although demand for funds in the US was "significant", the opportunity to capture new assets was "even greater around the world, encouraging fund managers to expand their businesses into new markets and regions".
European funds opt for bonds
In Europe, investment funds, excluding money markets, captured more than €270bn ($350bn) on a net basis, with 85% going into bond strategies. When absolute return and multi-asset portfolios with a fixed income bias are included, the proportion migrating to bond-centric strategies was even greater, according to SI.
In total, high yield and global bond funds collected more than €110 bn of net flows – split almost evenly between the two categories – and together accounted for almost half of total bond inflows in Europe. Large amounts went to emerging debt (€46bn), European bonds (€35 bn), and US bonds (€31 bn).
Equity funds in Europe, meanwhile, recorded "only modest inflows in aggregate", but individual flagship vehicles such as M&G Global Dividend, Morgan Stanley Global Brands, Blackrock Emerging Markets Index, and Aberdeen Emerging Markets "were among the best selling funds of the year, each collecting more than €2bn", SI said.
Global equity strategies in aggregate captured €17bn, while emerging equity products gained €16bn, offsetting net redemptions from the European equity category.
Absolute return funds also had inflows of €15bn, along with selected alternative strategies.
