Stock Funds Lose Momentum to Bonds Again
February 22, 2012
Investors continued to steer money into stock mutual funds in February, though with much less enthusiasm. According to statistics released today by the Investment Company Institute, investors placed an estimated $1.04 billion into equity funds during the week ended Wednesday, Feb. 15, less than half the $3.64 billion they poured into the funds a week earlier.
Foreign stock funds received the lion’s share of the infusion, gaining $1.01 billion for the week. U.S. stock funds received the remaining $35 million.
Bond funds once again claimed the day, posting estimated inflows of $8.20 billion, their largest weekly inflow this year. Of the $8.20 billion, $6.46 billion went into taxable bond funds with the remaining $1.73 billion going into municipal bond funds.
Hybrid funds—those that invest in both stocks and fixed-income securities—took in a respectable $2.66 billion in new investments, up from the $2.49 billion they posted in inflows a week earlier.
All told, mutual funds posted estimated inflows of $11.90 billion for the week, down from the previous week’s inflow of $13.18 billion, which set a record for the year.
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.
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