U.S. Stock Funds Funds Lose Another $6.6B
November 21, 2012
Outflows from U.S. stock funds accelerated in early November, according to the latest statistics from the Investment Company Institute.
For the week ended November 14, investors pulled an estimated $6.63 billion from mutual funds that invest long-term in U.S. equities, more than three times the $2.14 billion they withdrew from the funds the week before. Investors have yanked more than $123 billion from domestic stock funds since the beginning of the year.
Non-U.S. stock funds also took a hit, losing an estimated $1.75 billion for the week, as did hybrid stock/bond funds, which lost $1.22 billion. Both categories of funds posted modest inflows of $301 million and $553 million, respectively, the previous week.
Bond funds proved to be more popular, attracting an estimated $6.61 billion in fresh inflows. But even they were down 11% from the $7.47 billion they took in a week earlier. Of the $6.61 billion, $5.35 billion went to taxable bond funds with the remaining $1.26 billion going to municipal bond funds.
All in all, it was a dismal week for mutual funds, posting an abysmal $2.99 billion estimated outflow, their third largest this year. The two other monster outflows occurred the week ended Jan. 4, when they lost $5.38 billion, and the week ended May 23, when they lost $4.90 billion.
The weekly fund flow estimates are derived from data covering more than 95% of industry assets, according to ICI. The statistics cover long-term mutual funds, those the ICI defines as investing in long-term instruments.
Margarida Correia writes for Bank Investment Consultant.
