Lipper: Investors Look Beyond Borders for Returns

Investors continue to pour dollars into 40’ Act products, looking for returns outside of U.S. borders and income from taxable fixed income funds. For the week ended May 22, funds (including conventional funds and exchange-traded funds) took in a net $25.1 billion, according to Lipper data.

Equity funds took in a net $6.4 billion (their fourth week of net inflows), fixed income funds attracted net $3.2 billion, municipal bond funds drew in $63 million (for their third consecutive week of net inflows), and money market funds pulled in a net $15.4 billion for the week.

“Investors appear to be looking over the border for returns, domestic equity funds took in a net $472 million, while their nondomestic equity fund counterparts took in almost $2.0 billion, bringing in net new money for the twenty-second consecutive week,” according to Tom Roseen, head of research at Lipper.

“On the domestic side investors appeared to be looking for dividend-paying funds, injecting some $324 billion net into real estate funds. International equity stayed hot as investors put a net $1.9 billion into this macro-group.”

For the fourth consecutive week equity ETFs experienced net inflows, taking in some $3.9 billion for their twentieth consecutive week of net inflows, bringing their year-to-date total to more than $105.0 billion.

Roseen recounted the roller coaster week in the market that ultimately ended in a rise. “During the week ended May 22, investors were initially jolted by reports that U.S. jobless claims rose to a six-week high, housing starts had fallen sharply, and that the Philadelphia Fed had reported a decline in regional manufacturing activity,” he wrote.

“However, tensions were eased after the Conference Board reported that April’s leading economic indicators rebounded sharply and that the May reading of the University of Michigan and Thomson Reuters consumer sentiment index showed the index rose more than expected. Both helped U.S. stocks rise for a fourth week of gains.”

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