Templeton leapfrogs rivals to take top spot for fund flows

Global fund flow figures for the first half of 2010 were $500 billion, double the level seen in the same period last year, according to latest figures from US-based data provider Strategic Insight.

US firm Franklin Templeton surpassed rival Blackrock to become the industry’s best performing group, in terms of fund flows. The other firms topping the fund flow rankings are Carmignac, Pictet, Allianz and Schroders.

‘Year-to-date, bond funds continued to be the main driver of flows, adding a net $315 billion, followed by equity/mixed funds with a combined net intake of $120 billion,’ said Daniel Enskat, senior managing director and the firm’s head of global consulting.

‘Other funds, mostly alternative “Newcits” and absolute return funds, collected almost $50 billion in cash flows, a sign of continued convergence between the traditional and alternative fund space.’

The report states that the sectors seeing the most new money were global fixed income, emerging market and Asia Pacific bonds and equities, alongside innovative alternatives and absolute return.

In the same period, institutional investors redeemed $625 billion from money market funds.

It also revealed that the top ten existing products in the US, Europe and Asia combined accounted for $150 billion in cash flows year-to-date, with another $30 billion going in to the most successful new fund launches.

‘Over half of the top selling funds in the first half of 2010 were ‘bridge products’, moving investors from a thematic story to a long-term investment solution in dollar-cost-averaging buy-and-hold fashion, with a growing concentration of flows to fewer managers and products, as distributors are restructuring their fund selection criteria post-crisis towards greater partnerships with selected firms,' Enskat said.