Flows plunge - US Monthly Fund Highlights - December 2019

Active long-term fund flows plunged over the course of December, declining to outflows of US$25.1 billion after moderate net redemptions of US$1.2 billion in November. Equity funds strongly weighed down net contributions to active funds while bond funds collectively brought in net inflows of US$27.9 billion.

Passive funds improved on their November inflows, pulling in net deposits of US$58.6 billion in December after US$51.4 billion in the prior month. ETFs continued to act as the leading inflow vehicle during the month at US$43.9 billion against US$40.8 billion in November.

Taxable Bond ended the year with an overwhelming lead among long-term funds. The asset class experienced net inflows of US$413.0 billion during 2019, with US$225.2 billion into passive funds and US$187.8 billion into active funds.

Even as the S&P 500 returned 30.4% across 2019, investors still flocked to money market funds, which ended the year with their highest annual net inflows since 2008. The segment gathered inflows of US$62.3 billion during December, leaving the 2019 total at US$522.4 billion. Taxable Money Market funds were the chief contributor to flows within 2019 at US$349.0 billion, while Prime Money Market funds gathered net deposits of US$180.9 billion.