Mutual Fund Flows Backtrack in February

Long-term funds—stock, bond, and hybrid funds—had a net outflow of $12.13 billion in February, verse an inflow of $25.02 billion in January (see “Sales not Enough to Counter Mutual Fund Losses’).

Stock funds posted an outflow of $25.03 billion in February, compared to an inflow of $8.92 billion in January. Among stock funds, world equity funds (U.S. funds that invest primarily overseas) posted an outflow of $10.76 billion in February, while funds that invest primarily in the U.S. had an outflow of $14.27 billion, ICI data showed.

Money market funds, which have been popular during the market turmoil of the past year and saw an inflow of $59.47 billion in January, had an outflow of $6.44 billion in February. Funds offered primarily to institutions had an outflow of $1.11 billion, and funds offered primarily to individuals had an outflow of $5.33 billion.

The investor’s choice for the month was bond funds, with an inflow of $17.15 billion. Taxable bond funds had an inflow of $12.82 billion, while municipal bond funds had an inflow of $4.34 billion.

Hybrid funds posted an outflow of $4.25 billion in February.

The ICI data is here.