MILAN--Italian asset managers had net inflows of 1.75 billion
euros ($2.3 billion) in August, the first reversal in the trend of
investor redemptions since March, according to the latest monthly
figures issued Tuesday by the industry's association,
Assogestioni.
In July, net outflows totaled EUR1.28 billion.
Of August's total, open-ended funds, which make up the bulk of
the amount, had net inflows of EUR904 million, much higher than
inflows of EUR52 million in July.
Among these funds, those focused on equities suffered outflows
of EUR276 million, less than the EUR986 million of outflows
recorded in July.
Investor concerns about Europe's economy in light of the
sovereign-debt crisis have led to weakness in equities.
Open-ended funds that invest in bonds had inflows of EUR1.62
billion against EUR3.16 billion of inflows in the prior month.
Since the beginning of the year, outflows have totaled EUR7.40
billion, a reminder of investor fears about the repercussions of
the crisis.
At the end of August, the industry had EUR976.8 billion worth of
assets under management, according to Assogestioni.
Shares of asset management companies, such as Banca Generali SpA
(BGN.MI), Mediolanum SpA (MED.MI) and Azimut SpA (AZM.MI), as well
as Intesa Sanpaolo SpA (ISP.MI) and UniCredit SpA (UCG.MI), are
sensitive to capital flows data as inflows boost their profits from
fees and commissions.
Write to Gilles Castonguay at gilles.castonguay@dowjones.com;
Twitter: @GRCastonguay
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