Funds See Record Inflows in November

Stock and bond fund investors, who have experienced more than $1 trillion in asset appreciation this year, continued to build wealth in November as they contributed net new cash to mutual funds. Historic levels of asset appreciation, strong stock fund total returns—averaging more than 13% through the end of November—and bond fund total returns, which averaged more than 8%, were major factors in stock and bond funds’ $417 billion monthly net intake, according to Strategic Insight, an Asset International company.

Annual net flows through November surpassed $300 billion for bond funds as taxable bond funds attracted $18 billion. Taxable bond exchange-traded funds (ETFs) netted $5 billion of monthly net intake, bringing year-to-date inflows to nearly $50 billion. Tax-free funds also attracted $5 billion.

Equity and asset-allocation funds saw net redemptions of $16 billion and $190 million, respectively, in November. The annual net outflows for equity funds reached $70 billion, while asset allocation funds have an annual net intake greater than $15 billion.

Exchange-traded products (ETPs) attracted $14 billion of net intake, bringing year-to-date flows to $152 billion. International equity ETFs netted $5 billion of inflows during the month, while domestic equity reached $4 billion. Globally, ETPs net flows exceeded $200 billion this year.

Additional information is available at www.SIonline.com.