Amundi: UCITS ETF market draws €36.4bn in May as investors rotate back to risk assets
11 JUN, 2026
By Joanna Piwko from RankiaPro Europe
The European-domiciled UCITS ETF market continued its recovery in May, attracting net new assets (NNA) of €36.4bn – a 35% increase compared with the same month in 2025 and marginally ahead of the €35.5bn collected in April 2026, according to Amundi's latest monthly flows report.
The result marks a decisive rebound from March, when geopolitical disruption linked to the war in the Middle East constrained monthly NNA to just €10.6bn. Despite the improvement in sentiment, market participants remain cautious: uncertainty around inflation, central bank policy, geopolitics, and growth continues to shape positioning, with a clear preference for diversification, liquidity, and flexible building blocks over concentrated bets.
Equities: US back in favour, Europe stalls
Equities accounted for €24.4bn of total May NNA, with the dominant theme being a rotation back into US exposures. US equity allocations rose 30% month-on-month to €7.7bn, led by the information technology sector (€1.6bn) as investors continued to favour large-cap and technology names supported by the persistent AI investment narrative.
All-country world strategies attracted the largest single allocation at €11.2bn – nearly half of total equity NNA – reflecting a broader preference for diversified global wrappers over single-country or sector bets. Thematic demand remained concentrated in AI-linked semiconductors (€1.1bn) and infrastructure (€553m), the latter benefiting from the European strategic autonomy discussion.
By contrast, European equities recorded net outflows in May – a notable reversal after a relatively stable April and a positive start to the year. Emerging markets remained modestly in positive territory at €1.3bn, while Japanese equities continued to build momentum, attracting €736m, a 13% month-on-month increase.
Fixed income: record year-to-date start, high yield leads the risk shift
Fixed income contributed €11.8bn in May, bringing the year-to-date total for the asset class to approximately €40bn – the strongest start to a year on record. Government bonds led individual category flows at €4.5bn, followed by investment grade credit at €3.2bn. Money market exposures attracted €1.7bn, a signal that liquidity management remains a priority even as risk appetite recovers.
The most significant shift within fixed income was in high-yield credit, where NNA of €1.1bn represented a 60% increase versus April – the clearest expression of investors' growing willingness to take on credit risk. Inflation-linked bonds also remained in demand at €557m.
Duration preferences diverged sharply by region. In US government bonds, investors showed a pronounced preference for ultra-short duration (€811m), reflecting continued uncertainty around the Federal Reserve's policy path, inflation dynamics, and US growth. In European government bonds, the picture was more neutral, with flows distributed across all maturity buckets (€923m), pointing to a more balanced positioning on ECB policy.
ESG: equity share rises, fixed income share softens
The picture for ESG-linked flows was mixed across asset classes in May. ESG-linked equity allocations rose to €5.3bn, while ESG fixed income flows of €2.8bn moved closer to a quarter of total fixed income NNA – a modest deceleration.
The uptick in ESG equity flows is partly structural: ESG screening and ESG-tilted versions are increasingly embedded within all-country world, global, and sector strategies as part of the core product offering. In practice, this means a portion of ESG demand is being absorbed indirectly through broad diversified equity allocations, rather than through explicit ESG-labelled mandates.
Source: Amundi, Bloomberg. Data as at end-May 2026. European-domiciled UCITS ETF market only. Information reputed exact as of 2 June 2026.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, tax or legal advice, nor an offer to buy or sell financial instruments. The opinions reflect the evaluations of the respective management companies at the date of publication and are subject to change without notice. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Emerging market debt involves specific risks: currency volatility, geopolitical risk, liquidity risk, sovereign and corporate credit risk.
