Passive funds see US$47.4bn inflows - fund monthly highlights march 2016

Key highlights:

Net deposits to long-term mutual funds and ETFs totalled US$46.7 billion in March, lifting quarterly long-term non-VA ’40 Act fund flows to +US$54.3 billion. Passive funds continued to drive inflows, attracting US$47.4 billion during the month and totaling US$83.4 billion on the quarter.

US Equity funds netted US$7.4 billion during March, ending the month in positive net flow territory for the second time in the trailing twelve months. Outflows from active US Equity persisted, totalling US$13.6 billion in March. International Equity funds netted US$2.6 billion on demand for index ETFs and mutual funds; passive emerging market stock funds attracted US$5.8 billion during the month.

Among broad asset classes, Taxable Bond funds led monthly net inflows, collecting US$31.1 billion on strong demand for both active and passive corporate bond exposure. Municipal Bond funds continued to see steady positive net investment, attracting US$5.6 billion during the month and lifting quarterly net inflows to US$16 billion. As of March, net new investment to bond funds year-to-date totals US$55.7 billion.

Monthly net redemptions from money-market funds totalled US$13.4 billion.