European equity funds bleeding assets since 2007: Fitch

LONDON (Reuters) - With the debt crisis raging, nearly two thirds of European equity funds suffered a net loss in assets in 2011 as investors withdrew money, adding to a trend that has seen the sector nearly halve since 2007, a report said on Tuesday.

Net new money in European equity funds has been negative for five years, losing 115.5 billion euros to investor redemptions since the end of 2007, ratings agency Fitch said in a sector update.

Taking into account a 28 percent investment loss since 2007, the value of assets under management in European equity funds has dropped 46 percent from their levels at the start of the financial crisis, Fitch said.

Over the past year, only 36 percent of European equity funds managed to attract positive net flows.

"European equity has suffered an exodus of investor money, fueled by concerns over the current European sovereign debt crisis," the report said.

The flight from European equity funds, amounting to 20 percent of assets since 2007, contrasts with much slighter 5 percent losses from US equity funds. Emerging markets equities were flat while global equity funds enjoyed 115 billion euros of inflows.

The survey highlighted a highly concentrated industry, with close to 800 asset managers active in European equity funds within which just 13 companies manage a third of the assets.

Independent fund managers, not operating as subsidiaries of banking groups, fared better in terms of attracting new investors, the report found.

Schroders saw the strongest sales of nearly 2 billion euros, followed by BlackRock and Credit Suisse.

(Reporting by Chris Vellacott, editing by Sinead Cruise and David Cowell)