Mutual fund distribution platforms are booming in Germany, accounting for 18% of net new inflows into funds in that country last year, fund researcher Cerulli Associates reported in a recent study.
In a report called "Advice-Based Distribution in Germany," the firm said that mutual fund supermarkets that distribute funds directly or through intermediaries are likely to grow rapidly in coming years as the German retail market blooms.
"German platforms, more than those in any other country in continental Europe, will emulate the success of fund supermarkets and service agents in the U.S.," the researcher said in a statement.
German supermarkets held at least $28.1 billion in assets at the end of March, Cerulli said. And so-called second-generation supermarkets, or those that focus on intermediaries, will represent $93.7 billion in assets under management, or 12% of the German mutual fund market, by 2006. Cerulli predicts that assets in retail funds in Germany will exceed $749.8 billion by 2006.
