The research reveals that equity funds experienced net outflows for the first time since August 2012, contrasting sharply with strong inflows of €26.5 billion (around $34 billion) into fixed-income funds. On the whole, long-term open-ended funds - excluding funds of funds and master-feeder funds - saw net inflows of €40.3 billion in April.

“A close look at the fund categories with the highest April inflows reveals that the run on bond funds is a search for yield in the face of historically-low interest rates rather than a flight to safety. Five out of the ten top-selling categories were in the fixed income category. Indeed, the bond boom is illustrated by the speed with which the corporate bond losses are recaptured after setbacks that are obviously perceived to be buying opportunities - the Cyprus crisis that shook credit markets in April is just the latest example,” said Ali Masarwah from Morningstar’s European fund flows team.

Morningstar said that April saw three funds from Italian promoters join the list of those with the highest monthly inflows. The UBI SICAV high yield bond, jointly run by Unione Banche Italiane and Pramerica, enjoyed inflows of €1.2 billion, while two allocation funds, Eurizon Cedola Attiva Maggio 2018 and Eurizon Cedola Attiva Piu Maggio 2018, gathered a net €657 million and €624 million, respectively. Both are fixed-term funds expiring in 2018, and the flows reflect sales during their initial subscription period.

Meanwhile, the Global Index Etisk Fund, a global large-cap blend fund and the Schroder UK Alpha Plus Fund, suffered the greatest outflows in April - the latter losing €1 billion in assets in just two months. The Morningstar UK large-cap blend category continued its streak of heavy net redemptions, shedding €1.5 billion in April, the firm said.

The research shows that alternative funds received €3.1 billion of inflows, with a third of April’s inflows going to the Standard Life Global Absolute Return Strategies Fund. PIMCO collected €4.6 billion to top the list of highest inflows at the group level, while funds in the Morningstar Japan large-cap equity category brought in €1.1 billion in April, its highest monthly inflow since February 2007. Money market funds saw modest inflows in April, after outflows of €6.8 billion for the first four months of 2013.