According to the latest data from Refinitiv Lipper, the European fund industry saw a large influx of money in 2020, with net inflows growing by about 61.6 per cent.

For the whole of last year, total net inflows into Europe were estimated at 574.3 billion euros, up from 303.9 billion euros in 2019 and well above the annual average of 192.7 billion euros from 2004 to 2019.

Affected by the COVID-19 epidemic, global stock markets fell sharply in March last year and then rebounded sharply, in part because of unprecedented fiscal and monetary stimulus measures by governments and central banks, as well as the successful launch of the COVID-19 vaccine.

The total also marks the second-largest inflow into mutual funds and ETF in the history of the European fund industry, with 483.5 billion euros into mutual funds and 90.8 billion euros into ETF.

"overall, European investors seem to be cautious because most of the inflows are money market funds (268.4 billion euros), while long-term investment products have inflows of 305.8 billion euros," said Detlef Glow, head of Lipper EMEA research at Refinitiv. "it is worth noting that the flow of money market products is the highest annual flow in the history of the European fund industry."

Money market funds are mutual funds designed to provide investors with a high level of liquidity with minimal risk. They invest in short-term debt securities such as cash, cash equivalents and high credit ratings, such as US Treasuries.

By contrast, equity funds inflows 212.4 billion euros, bond funds 129.6 billion euros and mixed asset funds 26.7 billion euros.

BlackrockWith a net inflow of 24.8 billion euros in December, it is the largest fund sponsor in Europe. In its fourth-quarter results, the US giant said its full-year net inflow of $391 billion was driven by "record cash flows, active equity and alternative investments, and continued momentum in fixed income."