Investors have flocked to fixed income mutual funds at the fastest rate since the financial crisis, piling in almost $500bn in the first half of 2019 during trade war tensions, recessionary fears and market volatility.
About $487bn flowed into fixed income funds this year, up from $148bn in the first half of 2018, according to figures from Morningstar, the data provider. It is the highest level of first-half net inflows into bond mutual funds for at least a decade.
Assets under management in bond funds have doubled since 2010 to a record $9.4tn at the end of June 2019, as the spread of negative rates across fixed income markets drove up the value of the bond market globally.