Investing October 29, 2001

Funds Flee Mutual Funds in September

October 29, 2001 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Financial Research Corp. reports that 17 of the 25 largest mutual fund companies saw net withdrawals from their stock and bond funds in September, adding up to $20.6 billion.
Reported by

That makes it the worst month since the firm began tracking data in 1993, according to Dow Jones.

Fund Flows

A sizable $4.1 billion came from Fidelity Investments, an abrupt turnaround from the $863 million in net inflows recorded by the mutual fund giant in August. However, that’s still just a fraction of the $489 billion in total assets.

According to the report, the following firms recorded net redemptions:

  • Janus Capital ($2.48 billion)
  • Putnam Investments ($1.98 billion)
  • Franklin Resources ($703 million)
  • T. Rowe Price ($688 million)

On The Other Hand

The best selling fund group in September was PIMCO’s flagship Total Return Fund. The fund attracted net inflows of $751 million. Total Returns year-to-date of 10.5% also makes it the best performing fund among the nation’s 25 largest mutual funds tracked by Lipper.

PIMCO’s September’s deposits were enough to dethrone Vanguard as the top seller of long-term funds ? a position it had held for seven months in a row. Vanguard managed to attract $416 million on a net basis, as did Capital Research & Management’s American Funds group, which drew a net $308 million.

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