Sovereign funds pull
$18.4 billion from global markets in first quarter 2017
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[May 18, 2017]
By Claire Milhench
LONDON
(Reuters) - Sovereign wealth funds pulled $18.4 billion from global
stock and bond markets in the first quarter of 2017, notwithstanding
robust equity gains in this period, data from research firm eVestment
showed on Thursday,
Oil-backed sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) have been under pressure since
oil prices tumbled from their mid-2014 highs of $115 to around $52 a
barrel, with governments tapping state funds to close budget gaps.
Global SWF assets effectively stalled at $6.59 trillion in the 12 months
to March 2017, data from research firm Preqin showed in April, due to a
combination of weak markets, low oil prices and shifts in government
policy.
The latest figures from eVestment, which collates data from around 4,400
firms managing money on behalf of institutional investors, showed that
selling by SWFs resumed in the first quarter after modest net inflows of
$382.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2016.
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Peter Laurelli, global head of research at eVestment, said small inflows
had broken the string of consecutive quarterly net redemptions, which
began in the third quarter of 2014.
He added that the percentage of asset management products with outflows
in the first quarter was the second highest in at least the last five
years, at 70.3 percent. This is just shy of the 71.2 percent of products
with outflows posted in the second quarter of 2016.
Some $16.9 billion was pulled from equity strategies, with heavy selling
from U.S. equities. These lost $9.5 billion, whilst global equity
strategies lost only $490.6 million, and global passive equity attracted
$1.7 billion.
U.S. <.SPX> and global stock markets <.MIWD00000PUS> rallied to record
levels in the wake of Donald Trump's election as U.S. president in
November, encouraged by his promises to cut taxes and boost spending.
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Traders work in front of
the German share price index, DAX board, at the stock exchange in
Frankfurt, Germany, May 10, 2017. REUTERS/Staff/File Photo
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However, doubts about his ability to deliver on these promises have grown
following problems getting a key healthcare reform bill passed.
This
week the question of whether there was collusion between Trump's campaign team
and Moscow has exploded into a crisis that may threaten the future of Trump's
presidency. This triggered the biggest one-day fall in U.S. stocks since Sept.
9.
SWFs also withdrew $1.6 billion from fixed income strategies with the selling
concentrated in U.S. bonds, which suffered $2.5 billion of outflows.
Laurelli said this was not a strike against U.S. credit, with U.S. corporate
bonds attracting $1.5 billion, but rather a result of a $3.9 billion withdrawal
from U.S. short-duration strategies.
Global fixed income strategies attracted around $1 billion of net inflows.
Emerging market debt also pulled in $123 million, after three consecutive
quarters of redemptions.
But emerging market equity mandates continued to suffer withdrawals, with some
$2.1 billion redeemed in the first quarter.
(Reporting by Claire Milhench; Editing by Gareth Jones)
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