By David Randall
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Global investors sent a net $61 billion into money market funds in the week that ended March 4, hitting 30-week highs for the category, while global equity funds posted their largest asset losses since December 2018, according to data released Friday by fund-tracker EPFR.
The flight to safety came amid global financial market volatility as investors and companies try to predict the global economic impact from the rapidly spreading new coronavirus.
A record $4 billion came out of alternative funds, while Greece and Turkey bond funds also set new records for outflows. India equity funds, meanwhile, posted their largest asset loss since the first quarter of 2008.
Latin American equity funds were among the few categories that gained assets despite the broad market turmoil by posting their largest inflows in nearly two years.
Healthcare and biotechnology sector funds posted record inflows as part of a surge in healthcare stocks following a disappointing showing in the U.S. Democratic Party presidential primary by Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, who favors expanding government control of the industry.
(Reporting by David Randall; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
