Rebound in Equity Funds Loses Steam

The strong rebound that equity funds enjoyed most of January appears to be tapering off, according to the latest statistics from the Investment Company Institute.

For the week ended Jan. 23, stock mutual took in an estimated $6.35 billion in inflows, down 31% from the $9.20 billion they took in a week earlier. Still, the inflow is almost twice as large as last year’s record $3.52 billion inflow in early February.

Of the $6.35 billion that flowed into equity funds, $3.49 billion went to U.S. funds with global funds taking the remaining $2.86 billion.

Bond funds, too, saw smaller inflows, attracting an estimated $8.03 billion, down 24% from $10.60 billion the week before. Most of the $8.03 billion inflow went to taxable bond funds, which captured $6.62 billion. 

Hybrid funds, which invest in both stocks and fixed income securities, took in $1.94 billion in estimated inflows, down 9% from the previous week.    

All told, mutual funds drew an estimated $16.32 billion, a 25% drop from the previous week’s $21.92 billion inflow.

The weekly fund flow estimates are derived from data covering more than 95% of industry assets, according to ICI.  The statistics cover long-term mutual funds, those the ICI defines as investing in long-term instruments.

FOR MORE: Stock Funds Hope for a Bigger Bang

 

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