CHICAGO, April 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Morningstar, Inc.
(Nasdaq: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment
research, today reported estimated U.S. mutual fund and
exchange-traded fund asset flows through March 2011. The pace of inflows into long-term
mutual funds slowed slightly to $27.0
billion in March from approximately $27.9 billion in February, due largely to a
reversal in U.S. stock flows. The asset class saw outflows of
$934 million in March after taking in
roughly $26.1 billion combined in
January and February. Inflows for U.S. ETFs rose to $7.4 billion in March after reaching $6.6 billion in February despite outflows of
$3.3 billion from U.S. stock ETFs,
which typically drive industry inflows.
Diversified emerging-markets flows, which have attracted a
significant amount of attention since the financial crisis began in
late 2008, highlight a striking difference in the way American and
European investors express their appetite for emerging-markets
exposure. European investors have a much greater proportion of
their money in emerging markets than American investors and more
funds to choose from to gain emerging-markets exposure. But
Americans have been adding aggressively to emerging-markets funds
in recent years, and are increasingly choosing to invest in them
through passively managed products. Six years ago, actively managed
open-end mutual funds and ETFs comprised 79% of diversified
emerging-markets assets, but today make up 53%.
Additional highlights from Morningstar's report on mutual
fund flows:
- Bank-loan funds, with inflows of $4.3
billion, drove the $18.0
billion that flowed into taxable-bond funds in March. Total
category assets for bank-loan funds have reached $59.8 billion, surpassing the $41.2 billion peak reached in June 2007 by nearly 50%.
- Among U.S. stock funds, large-cap offerings lost about
$3.2 billion across the value, blend,
and growth categories, while small-cap funds enjoyed modest inflows
of $791 million. However, investor
preference for small-cap offerings hasn't held with
international-stock funds, where large-caps acquired $3.6 billion in new assets versus just
$306 million for small-caps in
March.
- Municipal-bond fund outflows slowed for a third consecutive
month, with less than $2.6 billion in
March redemptions. Still, roughly $40.4
billion has vacated muni-bond funds over the last five
months, which represents 7.8% of beginning total assets.
- Demand for alternative and commodity funds remained steady with
$1.1 and $1.8
billion in March inflows, respectively. Money market funds
saw outflows of $12.5 billion in
March after inflows of $16.7 billion
in February.
Additional highlights from Morningstar's report on ETF
flows:
- Outflows from large-blend and large-growth ETFs accounted for
most of the outflows from U.S. stock ETFs, as these categories lost
$6.2 billion and $963 million, respectively. However, several
categories in the asset class, including equity energy, natural
resources, consumer discretionary, and consumer staples, saw
inflows.
- After beginning the year with two consecutive months of
outflows, international-stock ETFs saw inflows of $6.7 billion in March.
- Taxable-bond ETFs collected assets of $3.1 billion during the month, making a notable
contribution to aggregate ETF inflows in March for the first time
in seven months.
To view the complete report, please visit
http://www.global.morningstar.com/marchflows11. For more
information about Morningstar Fund Flows, please visit
http://global.morningstar.com/fundflows.
The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to
Morningstar and/or its content providers; (2) may not be copied or
distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete, or
timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are
responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this
information. Past performance is no guarantee or future
results.
About Morningstar, Inc.
Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent
investment research in North
America, Europe,
Australia, and Asia. The company offers an extensive line of
Internet, software, and print-based products and services for
individuals, financial advisors, and institutions. Morningstar
provides data on approximately 380,000 investment offerings,
including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles, along with
real-time global market data on more than 5 million equities,
indexes, futures, options, commodities, and precious metals, in
addition to foreign exchange and Treasury markets. Morningstar also
offers investment management services and has approximately
$130 billion in assets under
advisement and management as of Dec. 31,
2010. The company has operations in 26 countries.
©2011 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved.
MORN-R
Media Contact:
Carling Spelhaug, 312-696-6150 or
carling.spelhaug@morningstar.com
SOURCE Morningstar, Inc.