Investment funds 1st quarter 2018:
Total fund wealth continues to grow
Statistical news from Statistics Sweden and Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority 2018-05-24 9.30
Total fund wealth in Swedish-registered investment funds was SEK 3 804 billion at the end of March 2018. This is an increase of SEK 42 billion compared with the fund wealth in the previous quarter. Fund wealth directly held by households contributed SEK 6 billion to the increase.
Total net investments were positive
Total deposits in funds remained higher than withdrawals. Net investments in the first quarter totalled SEK 26 billion. Sector-wise breakdown shows that Swedish financial enterprises’ investments increased most, amounting to SEK 18 billion. Among these, approximately SEK 7 billion are holdings by insurance companies that are linked to life insurances. It should be pointed out that the financial enterprises sector includes savings in unit-linked funds and premium pensions as well as holdings by asset managers that may have households as the final owners.
Among various fund types, the inflow was highest for fund of funds, followed by equity funds, in the first quarter of 2018.
Source: Statistics Sweden
Households’ fund investments
Fund wealth in Swedish-registered funds directly held by households increased by SEK 6 billion in the most recent quarter and reached SEK 733 billion at the end of March. Households’ net investments amounted to SEK 2 billion in the first quarter of 2018. This, together with a positive market development, caused an increase in total fund wealth.
Distributed by fund category, households’ net investments in equity funds, interest funds and mixed funds remained negative.
Source: Statistics Sweden
The number of active fund in the statistics
In the fourth quarter of 2017, funds were moved abroad, reducing the total number of active funds considerably. In the first quarter of 2018, funds were also merged into foreign funds, now amounting to 790 active funds.
Exchange rate development
The average exchange rate for one euro was SEK 9.96 in the first quarter of 2018, compared with SEK 9.79 in the fourth quarter of 2017. The Swedish krona gained strength against the US dollar, with an average exchange rate of SEK 8.11 compared with SEK 8.32 for one USD in the previous quarter.
Investments in foreign currency are affected by the development of the exchange rate, and a depreciation of the Swedish krona increases the value of these holdings when converted to Swedish kronor. The development of the krona against the euro in the quarter has contributed to the increase in value of investments. However, investments in US dollars were affected negatively in the quarter, as the krona gained strength against the US dollar.
Definitions and explanations
The statistics cover Swedish-registered investment funds. Both mutual funds and special funds are included in the statistics. The category ‘Other funds’ includes funds that could not be classified in any other category, such as hedge funds.
Next publishing will be
The next press release in this series is scheduled for publishing on 2018-08-22 at 09:30
Statistical Database
More information is available in the Statistical Database
Feel free to use the facts from this statistical news but remember to state Source: Statistics Sweden.