Germany H1 Report: Fund industry's assets climb to EUR 5,200 billion
- Retail funds and Spezialfonds attract EUR 80 billion in net inflows
- Equity funds: ETFs account for almost half of assets
By mid-year, fund companies were managing almost EUR 5,200 billion for investors in Germany. This was EUR 348 billion, or 7 per cent, more than at the start of the year (31 December 2025: EUR 4,852 billion). Net inflows of around EUR 80 billion into retail funds and Spezialfonds helped drive the increase. Of the total assets under management, EUR 2,409 billion is invested in open-ended Spezialfonds. Pension schemes, with EUR 851 billion, and insurers, with EUR 560 billion, remain the largest investor groups. Spezialfonds have been the largest fund segment by assets since the late 1990s. However, the traditionally strong institutional character of the German market has diminished in recent years. Retail fund assets have been catching up with Spezialfonds assets. Five years ago, the gap still exceeded EUR 700 billion; it has now narrowed to just EUR 360 billion, and the trend remains downward.
Assets in retail funds have risen by EUR 695 billion, or 51 per cent, to EUR 2,049 billion. A new method for recording ETF assets, combined with strong net sales, has been a key driver of this development. In the first half of 2026 alone, retail funds attracted EUR 51.8 billion in net inflows. Equity funds topped the sales table with EUR 38.3 billion, of which EUR 33.9 billion was invested in equity ETFs. Bond funds recorded net inflows of EUR 10.6 billion. Demand was particularly strong for funds investing predominantly in bonds with a remaining maturity of up to three years (EUR 5.1 billion) and for corporate bond funds (EUR 3.5 billion). Balanced funds followed with EUR 3.6 billion in net inflows. By contrast, property funds saw net outflows of EUR 3.3 billion. Following outflows of EUR 1.8 billion in the first quarter, investors withdrew a further EUR 1.5 billion in the second quarter. Investors who purchased units in property funds after 21 July 2013 are required to observe a twelve-month notice period before redemption.
Among retail fund assets, equity funds remain the largest segment, with EUR 1,092 billion. Equity ETFs account for EUR 496 billion of this amount, representing 45 per cent of total equity fund assets. Across all asset classes, ETF assets amount to EUR 585 billion according to the statistics. This figure is based on the cooperation established at the beginning of 2025 between the BVI, ETF providers and the central securities depository Clearstream. In addition, there are ETF assets managed by fund companies that have not yet adopted the Clearstream recording method, irrespective of whether they are BVI members. Furthermore, ETF holdings attributable to the German market are also held with other central securities depositories, most notably Euroclear. With ETF assets estimated at more than EUR 800 billion, Germany is Europe´s largest ETF market.