As of year-end 2022, Austria’s investment fund industry had a net asset value of € 200.2 billion, a decrease by € 30.4 billion or -13.2% compared with year-end 2021. Of this amount the aggregated net outflows of funds was only € 0.5 billion, with almost € 30 billion or -12.1% in contrast being cased by losses in market value, triggered in particularly by the capital market turbulence as a consequent of the Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine. During the 4th Quarter of 2022, the net asset value, despite a net outflows of funds (€ 404 million), increased by +0.8% or € 1.7 billion in comparison with the preceding quarter. The falling numbers of Austrian undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities (UCITS) that has been observed for a number of years continued in 2022, with 873 offered; in 2021 there were 903, in 2018 there were 979. The result for the fact that there was an overall increase in the number of funds in 2022 – 2070 (2021: 2055) was attributable to the constantly increasing number of Austrian alternative investment funds (AIFs): their number increased to 1197 compared with 1152 in 2021, while in 2018 there were only 1099. These are the findings of the Austrian Financial Market Authority’s (FMA) report on Asset Management for the 4th Quarter and Full Year for 2022.
A broad range on offer – strongest growth in sustainability funds
In past years in relation to investment strategy, there have been inflows identified in mixed funds, equity funds as well as real estate funds, while bond funds have lost ground. The market segment displaying the strongest growth is that of sustainability funds: at the end of 2022, funds in accordance with the “Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation” (SFDR) reached a volume of € 81.6 billion, or 40.8% of the total net asset value. When data was collected about this relatively new category for the first time (with the qualifying date 30.06.2021) the volume stood at approx. € 53 billion. Of particular note is the fact that of those, € 76.6 billion are in “light green funds” pursuant to Article 8 SFDR, and € 5 billion in “dark green funds” pursuant to Article 9 SFDR.
As of 31.12.2022 Austria’s asset managers managed 1,143 mixed funds with € 93.2 bn in assets (-12.0% or – € 12.7 bn in 2022), 423 bond funds with € 52.7 bn (-15.6% or – € 9.7 bn), 347 equity funds with € 36.5 bn (-17.2% or – € 7.6 bn), 48 short-term bond funds with € 5.0 bn (-17.4% or – € 1.1 bn), 42 private equity funds with € 1.1 bn (+45.7% or + € 0.4 bn), 47 other funds with € 0.4 bn (+6.7% or € 25 million) as well as 20 real estate funds with managed assets of € 11.3 bn (+2.4% or + € 0.3 bn). These funds were established by 14 investment fund management companies (KAGs; Kapitalanlagegesellschaften) authorised in Austria under the Investment Fund Act 2011 (InvFG 2011; Investmentfondsgesetz 2011) and 60 alternative investment fund managers (AIFMs) under the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Act (AIFMG). While the number of KAGs remained the same in 2022 for the fourth year in a row, the number of AIFMs rose for a fifth year in a row (2018: 50, 2021: 56).
Dynamic offering of foreign funds in Austria
Out of 10,624 foreign funds, which were approved for distribution in Austria as at 31.12.2022, 7,992 (+278) were “Undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities” (UCITS) and 2,632 (+602) alternative investment funds (AIFs). The total number of foreign funds again increased significantly. More than half of the foreign funds originate from Luxembourg, followed by Ireland, Germany and France.
The full report can be found on the FMA website (in German only) at: https://www.fma.gv.at/investmentfonds-und-verwaltungsgesellschaften/quartalsberichte/
Journalists may address further enquiries to:
Klaus Grubelnik (FMA Media Spokesperson)
+43/(0)1/24959-6006
+43 / (0)676 / 88249516