Funds See Small March Outflow

April 29, 2005 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Total assets in American mutual funds slid back by 1% in March, according to a monthly report from the Investment Company Institute (ICI).

Total mutual fund assets now stand at $8.05 trillion after the $81 billion outflow in the third month of the year. Funds assets had pulled ahead the month before (See   US Mutual Fund Assets Grow by 1.5% in February).

Breaking down the total figure, long-term funds had collective inflows of $18.05 billion in March, more than $10 billion lower than in February. Stock funds dropped 1.5% – or $67 billion – on the month, with world equity funds posting $11.88 billion inflows.US stock funds had inflows of $3.11 billion, down significantly from February’s $10.32 billion.

Hybrid funds – which invest in both stocks and bonds – had inflows of $3.86 billion, down from February’s $4.34 billion.

Bond funds saw an $800 million setback in March, compared to a $2.58 billion advance the month before. Taxable bond funds lost $505 million in March, compared to an inflow of $1.84 billion in February. Municipal bond funds had net outflows of $295 million in March.

Funds offered primarily to institutions saw outflows of almost $2.62 billion on the month.

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