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The Markets February 4, 2007
International Funds Top Among Strong December Flows
Stock and bond funds experienced net inflows of $39.4 billion in December, following a low net intake of $17.4 billion in November, according to data from the Financial Research Corporation (FRC).
Reported by Rebecca Moore
International/Global funds continued to be the top draw with a net inflow of $26.5 billion for the month. Corporate funds drew in a net $8.2 billion in December, while Domestic Equity funds posted $5.6 billion in net inflows. Government funds were the only asset category which saw a negative net flow for the month, decreasing $1.9 billion.
By Morningstar Category, Foreign Large Blend funds led the way taking in a net $5.4 billion, followed closely by Intermediate-Term Bond funds which took in just under that amount. Foreign Large Growth funds (net intake $4.1 billion), Diversified Emerging Markets funds ($3.6 billion), and Large Value funds ($3.6 billion) rounded out the top five.
As in November, American Funds was the top selling fund group with a net inflow of $9.2 billion. Barclays Global Investors Funds took the second spot with net inflows of $7.9 billion, and the Vanguard Group came in third with a $4 billion net intake.
Jumping to the top of the best selling funds list was Barclays’ iShares Russell 2000 Index fund, which took in a net $2.3 billion in December. The American Funds Capital Income Builder fund followed with a $1.8 billion net inflow, and the American Funds Capital World Growth & Income fund posted a net inflow of $1.6 billion.
FRC data can be found at www.frcnet.com.