Sector enjoys 26.6pc slice of the pie

Gross sales of international equity funds and managed funds reached US$127.96 million in November, representing 26.6 per cent of the industry total, according to the Hong Kong Investment Funds Association (HKIFA).

The industry registered gross sales of US$481.13 million in November, unchanged from October. However, net sales dropped to US$27.83 million from the previous month's US$134.3 million.

Gross sales for international equity and managed funds - a mixture of stocks and bonds - was the third-highest monthly figure recorded for this sector last year.

November's inflow boosted the sector's year-to-date gross total to US$1.09 billion, or 12.47 per cent of the industry's gross inflow.

The European equity sector's contribution to the industry's net sales was 65 per cent after it recorded inflows of US$912.94 million. The international/managed sector came second with US$444.98 million, about 32 per cent of the industry total. Sector funds were third with US$232.34 million, or 17 per cent of the total.

The HKIFA said sales of Asian equity sectors were lacklustre last year compared with the European and international/managed sectors.

In the first 11 months last year, the six Asian sectors attracted gross inflows of only US$2.82 billion, about 32 per cent of the industry total.

Furthermore, the Asian sectors attracted only US$9.91 million of net inflows on a year-to-date basis.

The Asia Pacific regional sector - excluding Hong Kong and Japan - saw the lowest gross sales on a year-to-date basis, while Hong Kong equity funds saw the heaviest net outflows at US$169.52 million.