U.S. investors pushed equity funds to their fifth consecutive quarter of plus-side performance in Q2 2021 as they focused on the reopening of global economies, a commitment by the Federal Reserve Board to keep its easy money policy intact, and a goldilocks U.S. nonfarm payrolls report for May. For Q2 2021, the average equity fund and taxable fixed income fund posted a 6.36% and 1.55% return, respectively. However, flows into mutual funds and ETFs continued to favor fixed income funds as investors evaluated the loftiness of equity prices and the global spread of the delta variance of the coronavirus while

U.S. investors pushed equity funds to their fourth consecutive quarter of plus-side performance in Q1 2021. Investors embraced the $1.9 trillion stimulus package signed into law by President Joe Biden in late March, the Federal Reserve Board’s commitment to keeping interest rates low through at least 2023, and the rollout and improving distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. All of these factors contributed to relatively strong returns for equity funds and ETFs during the quarter, with the average equity fund posting a 6.31% return, with Lipper’s Sector Equity Funds macro-classification (+8.94%) leading other macro-classifications. However, fixed income investors evaluated what a third

A third round of stimulus payments, improving COVID-19 vaccine distributions, and talks of a $2.3 trillion infrastructure package pushed the broad-market indices to their fourth consecutive month of plus-side performance. The average equity fund (including ETFs) experienced a 6.31% return for Q1 2021 and whopping one-year return of 61.39%. Despite ongoing inflationary concerns, which drove the 10-year Treasury yield up 81 basis points during the first quarter to 1.74%—its highest closing value since January 23, 2020—and President Joe Biden’s plan to raise taxes on corporations and wealthy individuals, investors injected $454 billion into mutual funds and ETFs during Q1, using

Despite the global turmoil brought on by COVID-19, from a mutual fund and ETF performance perspective, 2020 was a strong year. The average equity and taxable fixed income fund posted a 15.63% and 5.00% return during this period, respectively. Mutual funds and ETFs attracted some $797.3 billion of net new money during the year, with actively managed funds—excluding money market funds (+$695.7 billion)—handing back $227.9 billion during the year. Meanwhile, their passively managed counterparts took in some $329.5 billion. Shrugging off the spectacular returns for the year, investors gave a cold shoulder to actively managed equity funds, appearing to prefer