Portfolio - Mutual Funds

U.S. Equity Funds Endure Another Week of Outflows

by: Margarida Correia

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

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Investors continue to punish U.S. equity funds, according to the latest statistics from the Investment Company Institute. For the week ended Sept. 12, investors pulled an estimated $2.75 billion from funds that invest long-term in U.S. stocks, marking the eighth consecutive week that investors have withdrawn money from the funds.

Non-U.S. stock funds also posted an outflow for the week, losing an estimated $548 million, more than double the previous week's $225 million outflow. 

Bond funds, on the other hand, attracted $8.11 billion in estimated inflows, up 54% from the $5.28 billion they took in the week before. Of the $8.11 billion, $6.80 billion went to taxable bond funds with the remaining $1.31 billion going to municipal bond funds.

Hybrid funds - those that invest in both stocks and fixed income securities - were also winners, taking in an estimated $1.31 billion, up 43% from $910 million a week earlier.

All told, mutual funds posted $6.12 billion in estimated inflows for the week, almost twice the previous week's $3.10 billion inflow.

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.