Two Months of Equity Fund Gains End with $7.7B Outflow: ICI

January 31, 2003 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Two straight months of asset gains for domestic equity mutual funds ended with a bang in December as funds finished the month with coffers that were $7.7 billion lighter on net outflows.

According to data from the Investment Company Institute (ICI), December’s outflow followed a revised $6.9 billion inflow in November (See  Equity Mutual Funds Show November Inflow: ICI and a $7.5-billion October inflow. For 2002, ICI said stock funds saw $27.1 billion flee for safer harbors.

The picture was a bit different for bond funds, which enjoyed a $7.37-billion inflow in December on the heels of a $7.63-billion inflow in November. For the year, bond funds boasted a record $140.4-billion inflow, ICI said.

Among the bond offerings, taxable bond funds reported a $6.6 billion December inflow after November’s revised $7.8-billion inflow and a $124-billion year-to-date inflow. Meanwhile, municipal bond funds showed a $703 million inflow for December, compared to November’s revised $196 million outflow and a year to date inflow of $16.4 billion.

Hybrid mutual funds had a slight $235-million December inflow, far off of November’s revised figure of a $1.2-billion inflow. Money market funds had an outflow of $38.9 billion in December, compared with an inflow of $129.8 billion in November. Funds offered primarily to institutions had an outflow of $27.2 billion in December. Funds offered primarily to individuals had an outflow of $11.6 billion.

In terms of combined assets, mutual funds had $6.39 trillion in December. That was down 2.6% from the month before.

«