Mutual Fund Investors Conservative in May

June 29, 2007 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The combined assets of the nation's mutual funds increased by $329.1 billion, or 3%, to $11.396 trillion in May, according to the Investment Company Institute (ICI).

Investors changed to a conservative course for the month, as money market funds had an inflow of $57.57 billion in May, compared with an outflow of $11.26 billion in April. Funds offered primarily to institutions had an inflow of $37.43 billion, while funds offered primarily to individuals had an inflow of $20.14 billion.

Also indicative of the switch in investor mindset, stock funds posted an inflow of $1.55 billion in May, compared with an inflow of $18.21 billion in April. Among stock funds, world equity funds (U.S. funds that invest primarily overseas) posted an inflow of $11.54 billion in May versus an inflow of $16.50 billion in April, while funds that invest primarily in the U.S. had an outflow of $9.99 billion, compared to an inflow of $1.71 billion in April.

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Bond funds had an inflow of $21.28 billion in May, compared with an inflow of $13.52 billion in April, according to ICI data. Taxable bond funds had an inflow of $17.71 billion in May, and municipal bond funds had an inflow of $3.58 billion.

Hybrid funds posted an inflow of $2.02 billion in May, compared with an inflow of $2.55 billion in April.

The ICI data is here .

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