Angst over Covid-19 spreads to fixed income fund groups

EPFR-tracked Japan Equity Funds suffered record-setting redemptions during the fourth week of May as another underwhelming Japanese government bond auction prompted investors to cut their exposure.

The third week of May was marked by lackluster sovereign debt auctions, America being stripped of its final AAA debt rating and angst about the new US administration’s “big and beautiful” tax and spending bill.

Flows to EPFR-tracked funds during the second week of May had a pre-Liberation Day look as US Equity Funds snapped their longest run of outflows since 3Q23 and risk appetite among fixed income investors continues to move through the gears.