Investor uncertainty sparked by China’s summer stock market rout resulted in a 60% drop in net new fund flows in the quarter, according to the research firm.
In Asia, total capital flows from retail investors into mutual funds were $113bn, down from $278.8bn in Q2.
The hardest hit asset class was mixed asset products, which lost $105bn in Q3. By comparison, in Q2 the asset class had received $129bn of net new capital.
During the same period, money surged into money market funds, with capital flows more than tripling to around $180bn.
As expected, Q3 was a particularly rough quarter for China’s long-term fund market, which had a total net redemption of $122bn during the quarter, according to commentary from Strategic Insight.
“Due to the meltdown of Chinese stock markets in July, Chinese existing funds suffered large outflows and new fund launches in China also slowed down dramatically in Q3.”