This paper examines the major determinants of fund openings based on a large set of Germany investment families. For a sample of 2611 fund openings over the period 2004 to 2008, we find preliminary evidence suggesting that initiations are positively related to the fund familyís assets under management, positively related to the familyís inflows, and negatively related to the trailing mean returns of the family. These results are consistent with scale economies and opportunistic behavior on the part of fund family organizations. Additional analysis differentiates among the determinants of real estate fund openings and the openings of funds that invest in other asset classes. The empirical approach is based on Khorana and Servaes (1999, Review of Financial Studies).