April's $26.38B Equity Flows Down 23% from March

Equity mutual funds took in net flows of $26.38 billion in April, down 23% from the $34.36 billion they reaped the month before, according to data from the Investment Company Institute.

Investors cooled both to U.S. and world equity funds in the month, with U.S. equity funds taking in $8.03 billion, down 49% from the $15.66 billion they took in the month before. Flows to world equity funds dipped slightly to $18.35 billion in April, compared to $18.71 billion in March. Flows to this category have been falling of late, after taking in $122.81 billion in January, the biggest amount since 1999.

Investors also seemed to have less faith in bond funds, with these funds reaping $1.09 billion in April, down nearly 80% from the $5.26 billion they netted in March.

One fund company that did particularly well in April was Fidelity Investments, with $4 billion invested in its equity funds. T. Rowe Price also enjoyed strong flows during the month, as did Charles Schwab, which took in $2.6 billion into its equity funds and $190 million into its bond funds.