Investing April 28, 2006

Fund Flows Continue Weak Cycle in March

April 28, 2006 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Net fund flows into US mutual funds continued to lose ground in March with a $28.3-billion influx - down significantly from February's $43.3-billion showing, according to a Financial Research Corporation (FRC) report.
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Even February’s showing  (See FRC: February Fund Flow Loses Some Punch )  was down from January’s strongest-of-the-year performance, according to the FRC data.

In March, International/Global funds led the way with $20.1 billion in inflows while Domestic Equities ended the month with a $4.2 billion intake. Corporate bond funds showed a $3.41 billion influx in March while government bond funds gave back $275 million.

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Per Morningstar fund category, it was Foreign Large-Cap Blend leading the way with a $5.83 billion March gain while Large Blend was close on its heels at $5.44 billion. Moderate Allocation funds got a $3.62 billion boost over the month while Foreign Large Growth was up by $3.27 billion and Intermediate Term bond was up by $2.9 billion.

Fund Families

Vanguard Group and American Funds held the top fund group spots in March, with $849 billion and $836 billion, respectively.  Behind the two sizeable fund families in the March total asset race were:

  • Fidelity Investments – $789 billion
  • Franklin Distributors Inc. – $264 billion
  • Barclays Global Investors Funds – $198 billion.

Among March best sellers was American Funds at the top, netting a $6.89 billion inflow.  This was followed by Vanguard’s $6.6 billion, Barclays’ $4.17 billion and Fidelity’s $3 billion.

Top Sellers

In the top slots for March hot fund sellers were:

  • American Funds Growth Fund – $2.2 billion
  • American Funds Capital World Growth and Income – $1.6 billion
  • Dodge & Cox’s International Stock Fund – $1.2 billion.

The full report is  here .

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