Asset class view Bonds took £2.6bn, split £3.49bn to passives and -£887m to active funds. Equities were the second-most popular asset class, with £1.15bn of inflows, while money market funds saw outflows of £5.2bn.   Active v passive Ex MMFs, active strategies took £2.23bn as passives netted £1.07bn. Passive equity funds suffered redemptions of £2.51bn as their active peers attracted £3.66bn.   Classifications Equity Global ex UK was the top-selling classification, netting £6.22bn. Equity UK had a rare spike in sales, with inflows of £2.04bn.   Sustainable fund flows Total sustainable fund flows were £6.69bn, as conventional funds shed £3.01bn

First of all, it needs to be said that mutual funds and exchange traded funds (ETFs) are collective investment vehicles which are in many jurisdictions regulated within the same regulatory framework. This means both kinds of products are different ways to deliver an investment strategy to the investor. The key differences between a mutual fund and an ETF are related to their product structure, buying and selling of shares, transparency, and fees and expenses: 1. Buying and Selling of Shares The shares of mutual funds are normally bought and sold only once a day, at the fund’s net asset value

Over the last few weeks, I attended a number of conferences and meetings with professional investors who either have already integrated ESG-related funds into their portfolios or wanted to do so in the near future. Despite the fact that literally all of these investors have different views on what sustainable investments are and which themes should be covered, one thing was common for all these investors. They are unsure of how to evaluate fund products since they want to avoid buying funds which may not be suitable for their purpose, or which become the subject of a green washing scandal

Investors were overall net redeemers of fund assets (including both conventional funds and ETFs) for the first week in the last 10 as they withdrew $14.0 billion out of the market during Refinitiv Lipper’s U.S. fund-flows week ended April 14, 2021. Money market funds (-$27.8 billion) were the sole driver of redemptions. Taxable bond (+$9.1 billion), tax-exempt bond (+2.3 billion), and equity (+$760 million) funds all attracted net inflows over the trailing five trading days. The past fund-flows week marks the first time in nearly six months where we have seen back-to-back weeks of outflows from money market funds. The

The Healthcare sector ranks sixth out of the 11 sectors as detailed in our 1Q18 Sector Ratings for ETFs and Mutual Funds report. Last quarter, the Healthcare sector ranked eighth. It gets our Neutral rating, which is based on an aggregation of ratings of 27 ETFs and 86 mutual funds in the Healthcare sector as of January 9, 2018. See a recap of our 4Q17 Sector Ratings here. Figures 1 and 2 show the five best and worst rated ETFs and mutual funds in the sector. Not all Healthcare sector ETFs and mutual funds are created the same. The number

The Consumer Cyclicals sector ranks fifth out of the 11 sectors as detailed in our 1Q18 Sector Ratings for ETFs and Mutual Funds report. Last quarter, the Consumer Cyclicals sector, previously named “Consumer Discretionary”, ranked fifth as well. It gets our Neutral rating, which is based on an aggregation of ratings of 16 ETFs and 11 mutual funds in the Consumer Cyclicals sector as of January 3, 2018. See a recap of our 4Q17 Sector Ratings here. Figures 1 and 2 show the five best and worst rated ETFs and mutual funds in the sector. Not all Consumer Cyclicals sector

The All Cap Growth style ranks sixth out of the twelve fund styles as detailed in our 4Q17 Style Ratings for ETFs and Mutual Funds report. Last quarter, the All Cap Growth style ranked sixth as well. It gets our Neutral rating, which is based on an aggregation of ratings of 11 ETFs and 478 mutual funds in the All Cap Growth style as of October 17, 2017. See a recap of our 3Q17 Style Ratings here. Figures 1 and 2 show the five best and worst rated ETFs and mutual funds in the style. Not all All Cap Growth

The Large Cap Growth style ranks fourth out of the twelve fund styles as detailed in our 2Q17 Style Ratings for ETFs and Mutual Funds report. Last quarter, the Large Cap Growth style ranked fifth. It gets our Neutral rating, which is based on an aggregation of ratings of 17 ETFs and 636 mutual funds in the Large Cap Growth style as of April 25, 2017. See a recap of our 1Q17 Style Ratings here. Figures 1 and 2 show the five best and worst rated ETFs and mutual funds in the style. Not all Large Cap Growth style ETFs

Fund holdings affect fund performance more than fees or past performance. A cheap fund is not necessarily a good fund. A fund that has done well in the past is not guaranteed to do well in the future (e.g. 5-star kiss of death and active management has long history of underperformance). Yet, traditional fund research focuses only on low fees and past performance. Our research on holdings enables investors to find funds with high quality holdings (the best chances for outperformance) – AND – low fees. Investors are good at picking cheap funds. We want them to be better at