(Bloomberg) - Amundi SA says it’s seeing a major reallocation as clients pull away from the US and pile into European funds in response to the market upheaval triggered by tariff wars.
Investment clients have “massively repositioned” their portfolios toward European equities and government bond exchange-traded-funds, a spokesperson for Europe’s biggest asset manager told Bloomberg. The direction of flows reflects a “broader market repositioning” on the back of tariff announcements, the person said.
The comments match flow data provided by Morningstar Direct, which show a general flight from US funds this month. In the first two weeks of April alone, as markets digested President Donald Trump’s announcements on tariffs, US-focused funds managed by Amundi, UBS Group AG and State Street Corp. saw a combined €3.9 billion ($4.5 billion) in client outflows, according to Morningstar data based on equity ETFs.
Over the same period, European equity funds managed by BlackRock Inc.’s iShares brand, Amundi and UBS were the biggest gainers, adding a combined €2.4 billion. Funds domiciled in Germany and France, which attract mostly domestic clients, have seen a particularly sharp influx of capital in recent weeks, according to Morningstar.
“As the two largest economies in Europe, both Germany and France are particularly exposed to US tariffs,” said Kenneth Lamont, principal in Morningstar’s manager research department. With that in mind, flow data indicates there’s “some ‘patriotic’ rebalancing of capital to Europe,” he said.
It’s the latest example of the “sell-America” sentiment gripping markets, as even investors once seen as bullish on US stocks sound the alarm. Investors are having to contend with the fallout of Trump’s ongoing tariff war, as well as the chilling effect of his threats to dismiss Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
A spokesperson for UBS said the asset manager is seeing clients make tactical asset allocation shifts in the context of elevated market volatility. This has resulted in some sizeable flows from US equity ETFs and inflows into other fund ranges, particularly fixed income strategies, the person said.
Jane Sloan, EMEA head of global product solutions at BlackRock, said that “recent ETF flows indicate the quality and opportunity of the European market,” in an emailed statement. The “iShares ETFs continue to provide greater access to markets for millions of investors and tools to build portfolios that meet their needs.”
A spokesperson for State Street didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Generally in a selloff, “providers that have investments across multiple US equity ETFs will sell off the more expensive ones first,” Lamont said. “So this may also explain outflows seen by Amundi and UBS.”
Trump’s policies have pummeled US stock markets this month, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average now on track for its worst April since the Great Depression in 1932. And while investors are seeking refuge in markets outside the US, there are estimates from the International Monetary Fund and others that Trump’s trade stance is set to leave a huge dent in the global economy.
Bloomberg Economics estimates that Trump’s “liberation day” tariffs announced on April 2 will cut about $2 trillion off global output by the end of 2027, relative to a scenario in which border taxes had stayed unchanged.
By Natasha White and Leonard Kehnscherper
Photo by Hartono Creative Studio on Unsplash
