Investors were net purchasers of mutual fund assets for the sixth month in a row, injecting $89.9 billion into the conventional funds business (excluding ETFs, which are reviewed in the section below) for May. For the second month in a row, stock & mixed-assets funds experienced net outflows (-$12.7 billion). The Treasury yield curve continued to flatten during the month, pushing the fixed income funds macro-group to its thirteenth consecutive month of net inflows, attracting $21.5 billion for May. Money market funds (+$81.1 billion) witnessed net inflows for the fourth consecutive month. Over the last five months, stock & mixed-assets funds handed back $116.3 billion, while bond and money market funds attracted $259.6 billion and $274.5 billion, respectively, of net new money.
For the twenty-first straight month, ETFs witnessed net inflows, taking in $66.4 billion for May. Authorized participants (APs—those investors who actually create and redeem ETF shares) were net purchasers of stock & mixed-assets ETFs for the twelfth consecutive month, injecting $47.5 billion into equity ETF coffers. And for the fourteenth month in a row, they were net purchasers of bond ETFs—injecting $18.9 billion for the month. APs were net purchasers of four of the five equity-based ETF macro-classifications, padding the coffers of U.S. Diversified Equity ETFs (+$20.1 billion), World Equity ETFs (+$17.6 billion), Sector Equity ETFs (+$9.1 billion), and Alternatives ETFs (+$1.1 billion), while being net redeemers of Mixed-Assets ETFs (-$369 million). Over the last five months, stock & mixed-assets ETFs took in $294.2 billion and bond ETFs attracted $89.2 billion of net new money.
In this report, I highlight the May 2021 fund-flows results and trends for both ETFs and conventional mutual funds.
Highlights:
- For the sixth consecutive month, mutual fund investors were net purchasers of fund assets, injecting $89.9 billion into conventional funds for May.
- Fixed income funds (+$21.5 billion for May) witnessed net inflows for the thirteenth month in a row, while money market funds (+$81.1 billion) experienced net inflows for the fourth straight month.
- For the second straight month, investors were net sellers of stock & mixed-assets funds (-$12.7 billion).
- APs were net purchasers of ETFs, injecting $66.4 billion for May, for their twenty-first month of consecutive inflows.
- And, for the fourteenth month in a row, fixed income ETFs (+$18.9 billion for May) attracted net new money, while investors padded the coffers of stock & mixed-assets ETFs (+$47.5 billion), their twelfth straight month of net inflows.
- For the third month running, multi-cap ETFs (+$7.7 billion) experienced the largest net inflows of the four capitalization groups.
Click here to download the May 2021 FundFlows Insight Report: Investors Focus on Inflation Protected Bond and Commodity General Funds, ETFs in May.
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