Investors were net purchasers of mutual fund assets for the first month in seven, injecting $87.1 billion into the conventional funds business (excluding ETFs, which are reviewed in the section below) for December. For the first month in 23, stock & mixed-assets funds took in net new money (+$12.4 billion) for December. Investors continued to pad the coffers of fixed income instruments, pushing the fixed income funds macro-group to its eighth consecutive month of net inflows, attracting $77.2 billion for December (their largest monthly net inflows on record). However, money market funds (-$2.5 billion) witnessed net outflows for the seventh month running. For 2020, conventional Stock & Mixed-Assets Funds (excluding ETFs) handed back a whopping $664.0 billion, while Bond Funds took in $260.0 billion and Money Market Funds attracted some $692.4 billion.
For the sixteenth month running, ETFs witnessed net inflows, taking in $57.1 billion for December. Authorized participants (APs—those investors who actually create and redeem ETF shares) were net purchasers of stock & mixed-assets ETFs for the seventh consecutive month, injecting $40.6 billion into equity ETF coffers. And for the ninth month in a row, they were net purchasers of bond ETFs—injecting $16.5 billion for the month. APs were net purchasers of all five equity-based ETF macro-classifications, padding the coffers of Sector Equity ETFs (+$19.1 billion), World Equity ETFs (+$15.1 billion), U.S. Diversified Equity ETFs (+$5.1 billion), Mixed-Assets ETFs (+$1.0 billion), and Alternatives ETFs (+$265 million). For 2020, Stock & Mixed-Assets ETFs took in $283.0 billion and Bond ETFs attracted $206.8 billion of net new money.
In this report, I highlight the December and 2020 fund-flows results for both types of investment vehicles.
Highlights:
- For the first month in seven, mutual fund investors were net purchasers of fund assets, injecting $87.1 billion from the conventional funds business for December.
- Fixed income funds (+$77.2 billion for December, a monthly record) witnessed net inflows for the eighth month in a row, while money market funds (-$2.5 billion) suffered net outflows.
- For the first month in 23, investors were net purchasers of stock & mixed-assets funds (+$12.4 billion).
- For 2020, APs injected $489.8 billion into ETFs.
- APs were net purchasers of ETFs, injecting $57.1 billion for December, for the sixteenth month of consecutive inflows.
- And, for the ninth month running, fixed income ETFs attracted some $16.5 billion, while investors padded the coffers of stock & mixed-assets ETFs (+$40.6 billion), their seventh straight month of net inflows.
Click here to download the December 2020 FundFlows Insight Report: For 2020, Conventional Equity Funds Suffered Net Redemptions of $664 Billion.
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