In brief

Morningstar's Global Fund Flows Trend Report shows managed‑fund investors withdrew more than $5.33 billion from the Australian managed funds industry in 2012, shifting money out of Australian share funds and into fixed‑income vehicles.

Investors withdrew more than $5.33 billion from the managed funds industry in Australia during 2012, according to Morningstar's fund flows report cited in the article.

Yes. The article reports that managed‑fund investors took money out of Australian share funds and put it into fixed‑income vehicles over 2012, as revealed by Morningstar's Global Fund Flows Trend Report.

Fitch said Australian banks were likely to face a modest weakening in their operating environment in 2013 but that the banks remained strong enough to withstand such weakening. Fitch provided a stable rating outlook for the sector.

The article states Fitch provided a stable rating outlook for the Australian banking sector, indicating the agency did not expect immediate upgrades or downgrades to bank credit ratings in the near term and judged banks resilient enough to handle modest weakening.

The article says Europe's central banks have taken over as leading buyers of Australian bonds, filling the gap left when Japanese investors offloaded debt in January.

According to the article, Japanese investors offloaded £439.3 billion ($4.6 billion) in debt in January, prompting sovereign buyers — notably European central banks — to step in as major purchasers of Australian bonds.

Westpac's Damien McColough is quoted in the article saying the 'little Aussie bond market is the fourth‑biggest AAA in the world,' and that sovereign buying is filling the gap left by Japanese investors, with much of that buying believed to be coming from European central banks.