Investing February 27, 2004

ICI: Mutual Fund Assets Continue Rise in January

February 27, 2004 (PLANSPONSOR.com)—The nation's mutual funds continued their rise in January, gaining $122.3 billion (1.6%) in January, following December's 2.5% increase.
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Mutual funds saw their combined assets increase for the fourth month in a row in January to $7.54 trillion from a revised $7.41 trillion in the previous month (See  ICI: December Fund Gain 3rd in a Row ) mostly a result of the increases in stock funds and hybrid funds, according to data from the Investment Company Institute (ICI).   This total for industry assets was a record level; the previous record was $7.47 trillion in August 2000.

Stock funds enjoyed an inflow of $43.76 billion, an increase of 3.3%, reaching $3.8 trillion in net assets, followed by a 2.5% increase in hybrid funds, which were up $11 billion over December’s total.  Additionally, bond funds had an inflow of $496 million.   Taxable bond funds increased by $718 million, an increase of 1%, while municipal bond funds let go of $222 million, a change of 0.3%.

The largest percent change was in tax-free money market funds, which were up 3.8% to $299 million.  

The sole loser for the month was the taxable money market funds, down to $1.73 trillion, a decrease of 1.7%. However, the taxable overshadowed the tax-free funds, as the net outflow overall in money market funds was $19.77 billion.

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