2025: Strong year for German fund industry
- Retail funds see highest inflows since 2021
- ETFs drive new business
- Capital-market participation continues to rise
- Spezialfonds double sales
‘2025 was a strong year. The fund industry recorded its highest retail fund inflows since 2021 and saw total assets reaching a record EUR 4.85 trillion,’ says Matthias Liermann, President of the German Investment Funds Association BVI. Funds attracted EUR 154 billion in net inflows last year. Open ended retail funds accounted for EUR 86 billion of this total, with EUR 57 billion flowing into equity ETFs and bond ETFs. The positive trend continued into 2026. ‘Participation in the capital market is gathering momentum, with a steadily broader segment of the population recognising that securities have become a cornerstone of long term wealth accumulation and retirement planning,’ says Liermann. This shift is visible in both the high number of fund savings plans and the increase in securities accounts. According to the Bundesbank, investors in Germany now hold 37 million securities accounts – 14 million more than in 2020, including 6 million added in the past two years.
At the end of 2025, fund companies had EUR 4.851 trillion on behalf of investors in Germany. The largest share – EUR 2.287 trillion – sits in open ended Spezialfonds for institutional investors.
Assets of funds and discretionary mandates
in EUR billion
These include primarily retirement benefit schemes (EUR 813 billion) and insurers (EUR 536 billion). Open ended retail funds account for EUR 1.839 trillion, mandates for EUR 661 billion, and closed ended funds for EUR 64 billion.
Equity funds are the largest category within retail funds with EUR 932 billion, of which EUR 405 billion is held in equity ETFs. Comparisons with previous years are not possible due to a new ETF reporting methodology introduced in 2025. Until the end of 2024, fund companies could only report ETFs primarily targeted at the German market. Other ETFs were generally excluded because fund companies receive no reliable data on market allocation during the creation and redemption process. With ETF assets rising quickly, the gap between reported ETF figures until the end of 2024 and the actual size of the German ETF market widened. Since 2025, BVI and ETF-issuing fund companies have cooperated with the central securities depository Clearstream. Clearstream’s data on fund share holdings in Germany provides comprehensive domestic ETF statistics that are unique in Europe.
Balanced funds form the second largest category with EUR 386 billion. Bond funds total EUR 295 billion, including EUR 81 billion in ETFs. The largest subgroup of bond funds consists of products investing in securities with a remaining maturity of up to three years (EUR 98 billion), followed by corporate bond funds (EUR 75 billion). Property funds manage EUR 112 billion, and money market funds EUR 61 billion.
Net sales of funds
excluding mandates, in EUR billion
Equity funds led retail fund sales in 2025. They recorded net inflows of EUR 52.0 billion – EUR 45.6 billion into equity ETFs and EUR 6.4 billion into actively managed funds. Bond funds attracted EUR 30.7 billion in new money, with bond ETFs contributing EUR 11.5 billion. Looking at asset classes, funds investing mainly in bonds with a remaining maturity of up to three years (EUR 18.1 billion) dominate, followed by corporate bond funds (EUR 10.8 billion). Money market funds took in EUR 6.6 billion, and balanced funds EUR 2.3 billion. Property funds saw net outflows of EUR 7.7 billion, with quarterly redemptions ranging from EUR 1.5 to 2.1 billion.
Net sales of open-ended retail property funds
in EUR billion
Investors who purchased property funds after 21 July 2013 were required to give 12 months’ notice before redemption.
New business in open ended Spezialfonds almost doubled year on year, rising from EUR 33.8 billion to EUR 64.3 billion. Securities based Spezialfonds increased from EUR 26.6 billion to EUR 59.8 billion. Net inflows into property Spezialfonds eased from EUR 5.5 billion to EUR 4.2 billion.