Australian investors added record amounts of new capital to managed funds during the third quarter of 2021. Enthusiasm waned markedly as the quarter progressed, however, as Covid lockdowns were extended and the Australian stock market began to fall.
Key highlights from this quarter's FFI:
- $6.3bn of new capital added to equity funds between July and September
- Purchases of ESG funds surged – Q3 inflow was double the total since the beginning of 2019
- Australia still lags far behind global peers on ESG, but the catch-up may have begun
- Soaring ESG inflows boosted active funds even further in Q3
- Across all asset classes, inflows doubled the previous best quarter on Calastone’s record
- Optimism waned as the quarter progressed and global markets faltered