Fund sales bounce back

(December 2, 2004) Investors returned to mutual funds in November, with IFIC estimating net sales of around $250 million.

In its preliminary report, IFIC estimates net sales of between $50 million and $450 million. That’s an improvement from the previous two months, when net redemptions reached close to $600 million.

Total industry assets are expected to hit an all-time high in November, says IFIC president Tom Hockin, rising to as much as $485 billion, a 10% increase since the end of last year.

“Equity markets moved higher after the U.S. presidential election and our funds benefited,” said CI chief operating officer Stephen MacPhail. “As a result, we had our strongest month of asset growth since February 2004.”

Among fund companies, Brandes and TD Asset Management led the way with $169 million each in net sales, followed closely by Dynamic, at $147 million. Laggards included AIC, with $280 million in redemptions, and Fidelity, off $232 million.

Filed by Doug Watt, Advisor.ca, doug.watt@advisor.rogers.com