Assets rebound but mutual fund redemptions persist

Fund assets rebounded in November but mutual funds remained mired in net redemptions, according to the latest industry data. ETF sales, on the other hand, climbed.

The Investment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC) reported that mutual fund assets under management (AUM) rose by 4.1% in November to $1.87 trillion.

Yet while assets increased by $74.1 billion, net redemptions rose to $8.7 billion from $8.1 billion in October.

The rise in redemptions was driven by a decline in net sales for money market funds, which dropped from $1.2 billion in October to $551 million in November. Long-term fund redemptions were essentially flat overall.

Balanced funds continued to lead the way with $5.1 billion in net redemptions in November, which was down from $5.7 billion in the previous month.

However, equity fund redemptions jumped from just under $2 billion in October to over $3 billion in November, IFIC reported.

At the same time, the group reported that both AUM and net sales increased in the ETF space.

ETF assets rose by 5.7% in November to $317.8 billion. The $17.2 billion increase in AUM included monthly net sales of $4.2 billion, IFIC reported.

Equity ETFs led the way with net sales of over $1.5 billion, up from under $900 million in the previous month.

Bond funds were close behind, with net sales of $1.34 billion, almost double the $746 million in monthly net sales for October.

Money market ETFs slipped to third place, as net sales declined from $1.5 billion in October to just under $1.1 billion in November.

Staff

The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998.