- Bank Channel

Investors Yank $6.6B from U.S. Stock Funds

by: Margarida Correia

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

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Investors continue to leave U.S. stock mutual funds in droves, according to the latest statistics from the Investment Company Institute. For the week ended May 2, investors pulled an estimated $6.60 billion from mutual funds that invest long-term in U.S. stocks, almost six times the $1.17 billion they withdrew from the funds a week earlier. Since the beginning of the year, U.S. funds have posted outflows totaling more than $37 billion.

Investors were more receptive to non-U.S. funds, steering an estimated $1.30 billion their way for the week. They were even kinder to bond funds, which received an estimated infusion of $7.51 billion, up 36% from the $5.52 billion inflow a week earlier. Of the $7.51 billion, $6.43 went to taxable bond funds with the remaining $1.07 billion going to muni bond funds.

Hybrid funds — those that invest in both stocks and fixed income securities — received a tepid $36 million in estimated inflows, down from $945 million the previous week.

All told, mutual funds took in an estimated $2.24 billion, the weakest inflow so far this year.

The weekly fund flow estimates are derived from data covering more than 95% of industry assets, according to ICI. The statistics cover long-term mutual funds, those the ICI defines as investing in long-term instruments.