Investment Fund Map of Europe

By Dobromir Risov - May 2025

Intro

Today I write about the investment fund landscape in Europe. And like with a map I will provide some outer boundaries and some differentiation within. I do so by using data from the European Central Bank. It´s a map you have probably not seen before. I am crunching some numbers. The content is more for the curious mind with a little bit of extra time. If you are new to this site I would prioritise other blogs for example, the one on the Tulip Mania, Let´s get started with mapping.

Main

The report is a total of 60 pages long, covering data since 2009. This report is updated on a quarterly basis. There are more than 70,000 funds registered in Europe per end of 2024. A majority of those funds are from a country member of the Euro currency. The report provides a breakdown in to the various “asset classes” or strategies.  Luxembourg leads on a national level with more than 23,000 registered investment funds. 

I don´t know why but I was surprised to see, France coming second: more than 13,000 registered funds there. Germany ranks third and Ireland fourth with close to 9,000 registered funds. Latvia (abbreviation: LV) comes last, with 71 investment funds. A citizen of Latvia is not restricted and can invest in funds, registered in Luxembourg. He will have to do a bit of taxation administration work. 

Second, I calculated the figures below dividing a country´s population by the total number of investment funds. I did the math for those countries with more than 1000 funds registered. Read the figures like this: there´s 42 people per fund registered in Luxembourg. Luxembourg exhibits the highest density. Ireland comes second, with 561 people per registered fund. Last in this analysis is Italy. I notice a massive discrepancy in density within European countries.

This discrepancy is in absolute terms as shown above and in relative terms as calculated below by me. 

Thirdly, I was impressed by the growth in number: In 2021 (Q1), the report lists more than 63,000 investment funds in the Euro zone. Three years later the total has gone up to 72,000. That´s an increase of + 8,000 funds, or by 13%. It´s important to say the report does not assess quality, it measures quantity.  One country not being part of the analysis is the UK. I also expect a large number of funds to be registered in the UK. 

The report shows investment funds invest in different asset classes. These are bonds, equities, and (not visible on image) also shows the categories of “hedge”, “real estate”, “mixed” and "other". Hedge refers to the group of Hedge Funds. This asset class comprises various alternative strategies aiming to generate better results from a risk return perspective. Usually the access to hedge fund investing is restricted for individual investors with little resources. Real estate comprises rental income from residential or business lettings. Mixed is probably a mix of the before mentioned categories, excluding hedge funds. Bonds are a type of debt traded on a stock exchange or over the counter. Equities represent ownership in a company.

This asset class bears most risk because it comes last in terms of being paid out. All other counterparties are paid before – suppliers, employees, debtors (like banks) and the tax man. Only then owners of equity receive their share in form of earnings & dividends. Who offers those funds? Some of the funds are offered by banks. Banks have a core business - banking and they offer investment products too. Insurance companies too have a main business and offer investment products too. Then, there´s companies which focus entirely on investing. Who are those funds for?  They are for retail investors, wealthy investors and for funds which invest in funds themselves (fund of funds). Sovereign Wealth Funds, a less known and important investor typically invest directly. That is they buy stocks or bonds rather buying shares in investment funds. To gain insight on them you can go to Sovereign Wealth Funds (pt.1)

Summary

More than 70,000 funds are registered in Europe. In spite of the huge number, the number has been growing over the years. On a national level there are wide discrepancies. In absolute number and relative to a country´s population. The countries of Luxembourg and Ireland rank top in both categories. Germany and France exhibit a high number of funds too. Given the large amount an investor faces the challenge to proceed in a structured way to make his choices. Some individual investors follow a friend´s advice others pick a fund from their local bank. Both approaches lack structure. I go in depth in the course on personal investment. on the selection process for funds Courses (Item). I leave the fancy stuff out and we focus on the core.

Sources:

Overview of the total number of IFs, including historical data (European Central Bank),

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/stats/pdf/money/ecb.ifn_cumulated_overview_tables.en.pdf?173459e4a330836cf367543ebd097984

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. How many investment funds are registered in the European Union?

   There are more than 70.000 funds registered in 2024. Given the quarter to quarter increase in total number up to 2024, one can assume total number has increased since then.

2. Where is the majority of investment funds registered?

   Luxembourg is home to the vast majority of funds, with more than 20.000, followed by France with more than 13.000. Ireland ranks 2nd on a per capita basis, with one fund per every 561 citizens.

3. So, does a personal investor search for Luxembourg registered funds to find the best performing ones?

   No, the total number of registrations bears no indication that the best performing funds are also to be found there. It simply means the conditions to register are particularly beneficial in Luxembourg.

4. What categories of investment funds are out there?

   The report differentiates between, equity, bonds, mixed, hedge funds, real estate and other.