TOKYO, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Japanese retail investment trust inflows rose 24 percent to $2.3 billion in October as investors poured fresh money into Chinese and infrastructure equities funds, data from fund research company Lipper showed.
Newly launched investment funds, also known as "toushin", drew 188.2 billion yen ($2.3 billion) of fresh retail money, up from 149.7 billion the previous month, Lipper data showed.
Still, fresh inflows were less than half the amount for October last year of 404 billion yen.
The appetite for mutual funds among Japanese retail investors has not receded despite a slowing of inflows into new funds, fund managers said.
Japanese retail investors, who hold $15 trillion in personal assets which are still largely parked in low-yielding bank and postal savings accounts, are keen to diversify and gain higher returns.
"Inflows into newly launched funds have slowed as investors are pouring their money into existing funds that offer high dividends," said an official at a foreign asset management firm.
Many newly launched toushin funds during the month were a type that allows investors to select the currency in which they want to hold their investment, known as currency-selective funds.
Nomura Asset Management's equities fund that invests in infrastructure-related equities drew the strongest demand in October, with initial inflows totalling 54.1 billion yen.
Large inflows were also seen in Nomura Asset's equities funds that invest in Chinese shares, which drew 29.5 billion yen worth of fresh money. ($1=81.71 Yen) (Reporting by Yuka Obayashi and Chikafumi Hodo; Editing by Michael Watson)