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Administration October 15, 2014
Long-Term Funds Struggled in September
October 15, 2014 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – Long-term mutual funds experienced net outflows of $900 million in September, according to Strategic Insight (SI), an Asset International Company.
Reported by John Manganaro
SI’s monthly report on mutual fund asset flows shows net intake for equity products totaled $18.8 billion in September. International equity funds showed strong and persistent demand during the month, attracting $13 billion. U.S. Equity funds attracted $5.8 billion in September on continued demand for natural resources (up $2.1 billion) and income-mixed funds ($1 billion), according to SI.
Outflows from long-term fund types were primarily the result of a $23.1 billion aggregate net outflow from taxable bond funds during the month. The fund categories of objective corporate intermediate maturity (-$21.4 billion) and corporate high yield (-$6.7 billion) drove outflows from the asset class. Tax-free bond funds experienced net inflows, however, totaling $3.4 billion.
Overall, equity funds experienced negative one-month returns in September, as growth concerns in the ex-U.S. markets produced a -4.1% average return for international equity funds during the month. U.S. equity funds also ended September lower, SI says, recording a -2.4% average one-month return. Taxable bond funds were also negative, at -1.0% during the month, while tax-free bond funds ended the month slightly higher with an average 0.2% return.
Money market fund net deposits totaled $24.1 billion in September.
Information on how to obtain research reports from Strategic Insight is available at www.sionline.com.