OP Pohjola Rahastopulssi: In Finland, the number of unitholders has now reached a record-breaking 5 million – investors are still attracted to investing in Europe

Among people in Finland, willingness to invest has remained strong this year, as in January–March, the mutual funds registered in Finland attracted nearly 140,000 new unitholders.

OP Pohjola's Rahastopulssi review, which uses data from the Rahastoraportti fund report drafted by Investment Research Finland Ltd, shows that Finnish mutual funds now have more than 5 million unitholders for the first time in history.

"Reaching the landmark of five million unitholders shows that the number of mutual fund investors has grown strongly in Finland in recent years. In addition, many investors hold several, typically two to four mutual funds, which in turn increases the number of unitholders," says OP Pohjola's Chief Investment Strategist Lippo Suominen.

The data describes the investments of both Finnish households and the largest Finnish institutional investors, such as insurance institutions, in funds registered in Finland. Households are the largest group of owners of capital invested in mutual funds in Finland.

"By now, it is clear that for many of us investing has become part of everyday life, which is truly great. Investing is seen as part of managing personal finances, as if it were one of the foundation pillars of personal finances," Suominen says.

Among different types of funds, equity funds are the most popular when comparing the number of investors in equity, bond and balanced funds.

Fund statistics from the early part of the year show that those who invest in equity funds keep shifting from North American markets to Europe. The same trend was already visible last year.

"Measured by the number of investors, equity funds investing in European equity markets are already almost as popular as funds investing in North American markets," Suominen says.

Geopolitical tensions are reflected in investment flows

At the start of Donald Trump's presidency in early 2025, funds investing in North America had 327,000 unitholders, and those investing in Europe had 251,000 unitholders. The gap in the number of investors has now narrowed to just over a thousand, as European equities have attracted fund investors.

"In January–March this year, funds investing in North America lost close to 2,000 unitholders, while funds investing in Europe attracted nearly 27,000 new owners," Suominen says.

Suominen finds that the geopolitical uncertainty as well as the high valuation of US equities, for example, are underlying factors.

"In Europe, signs of a turnaround in economy and corporate earnings have emerged, drawing investors to European equities, where valuations are more favourable," Suominen says.

OP Pohjola's own statistics support the idea of the increasing popularity of mutual funds, as in January–March alone, OP Pohjola's funds attracted more than 70,000 new unitholders. In addition, in January–March, new agreements for regular investing in mutual funds were opened by a record-breaking 67,000 new customers.

"The benefits of long-term saving and ease of monthly investment attract customers. Continuous saving reduces timing risk and lowers the threshold for investing," Suominen says.

Read OP Pohjola's Rahastopulssi investor sentiment review for January–March 2026 here (in Finnish).

The Rahastopulssi investor sentiment review compiles data on mutual fund investments by Finnish investors. According to a study by Statistics Finland in 2024, 1.6 million people in Finland hold investments in mutual funds. The review describes which types of mutual funds are trending, what factors influence Finnish mutual fund investors' decisions, and how the markets are doing. The review uses data from both the Rahastoraportti fund report produced by Investment Research Finland Ltd for Finance Finland (FFI) and OP Pohjola's data.