Mutual Fund Assets Grow 2.2% in December

January 28, 2005 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The total assets in US mutual funds increased by over $177 billion in December, a gain of 2.2% on the month.

class=”normal-1″> The nation’s mutual fund’s total asset base now stands at $8.101 trillion, according to an Investment Company Institute (ICI)  news release .

class=”normal-1″> Long-term Funds

class=”normal-1″> Long-term funds – which consist of stock, bonds, and hybrid funds – had a total net inflow of $13.09 billion in December, a figure that is less than half of the  November inflows of $27.55 billion. On the year, net inflows into long-term funds were $209.81 billion, slightly less than the 2003 inflow of $215.84 billion.

class=”normal-1″> Separately, stock funds saw inflows of $10.02 billion in December, less than half of the $21.41 billion that flowed into such funds in November. World equity funds posted inflows of $7.90 billion on the month, slightly less than November’s $8.48 billion inflow. US-focused funds posted $2.13 billion inflows on the month, well off of the $12.93 billion that flowed into such funds in the previous month.

class=”normal-1″> For the year, stock funds had net inflows of $177.51 billion, a figure that is above the $152.28 billion inflow seen in 2003. This is the largest annual inflow into such funds since 2000.

class=”normal-1″> Hybrid funds posted $1.95 billion net inflows in December, down from $4.15 billion in November. On the year, hybrid funds pulled in $45.56 billion, above 2003’s $32.58 billion inflow.

class=”normal-1″> Bond funds posted inflows of $1.12 billion in December, slightly lower than November’s $2 billion. Taxable bond funds had inflows of just over $2 billion on the month, while municipal funds saw outflows of $932 million. On the year, bond funds saw $10.26 billion leave, a far cry from the 2003 inflow of $30.98 billion.

class=”normal-1″> Short-term funds

class=”normal-1″> Short-term funds posted outflows of $8.91 billion in December. This is a much smaller outflow than was seen in November, when $26.49 billion left the money market industry.

class=”normal-1″> Short term funds offered mainly to institutions posted outflows of $1.35 billion on the month, while retail funds lost significantly more, with outflows of $7.56 billion seen.

«