The total assets of euro area investment funds decreased to EUR 5,780 billion at end-December 2007, from EUR 5,892 billion in September 2007. This development was mainly due to a fall in the amount outstanding of shares and other equity, from EUR 2,166 billion to EUR 2,074 billion.

A breakdown of the assets side of the aggregated balance sheet of euro area investment funds shows that at end-December 2007 holdings of shares and other equity accounted for 36% of total assets. The second largest item was holdings of securities other than shares, which contributed 35% to the balance sheet total. Holdings of investment fund shares accounted for 14% of total assets, deposits for 6% and fixed assets for 3%.

In terms of breakdown by investment policy, the share of total assets held in equity funds stood at 30% at end-December 2007. Bond funds accounted for 28% of total assets, mixed funds for 27% and real estate funds for 4% .