Global equity funds, the largest group among diversified developed markets equity funds, gained more than $133 billion, breaking the record for full-year inflows set in 2013. But funds excluding the United States took in over $140 billion in 2015, while fully global funds saw their biggest outflow since 2012.
Inflows were $134.5 billion at separated European funds and $57.8 billion at Japanese funds. Global emerging market equity funds saw record outflows of almost $26 billion over the year. U.S. funds saw redemptions close to $170 billion, also a record.
Uncertainty about the effect of higher U.S. interest rates on riskier fixed-income classes also led to back-to-back quarterly outflows from bond funds for the first time since the end of 2013, according to EPFR Global.
For the year, global bond funds saw almost $24 billion of outflows. Emerging market bond funds lost $32.6 billion, of which $13.6 billion came out of hard-currency funds and $12.6 billion from local currency equivalents.
Tumbling commodity prices, ratings downgrades and concern over the health of China's economy, along with the anticipation of the first increase in U.S. interest rates in almost a decade, hit emerging markets equity funds. They carried a nine-week outflow streak into the new year.
The build-up to December's Federal Reserve rate increase proved worse than the reality for emerging market equity funds - redemptions moderated in the final two weeks of the year, EPFR said. However, outflows soon picked up again as worries over China's economic health recurred, the report said.
Preliminary data showed a record $17.7 billion in outflows from China equity funds in 2015, the report said.
(Reporting by Marc Jones, editing by Larry King)
