Fund sales recover in July

Mutual fund sales appear to have recovered in July, with net new sales estimated at between $600 million to $1.1 billion, according to preliminary data from IFIC.

“The markets have rebounded slightly in the last month and that’s led to increased sales and assets,” said Joanne De Laurentiis, president and CEO of IFIC.

Net assets under management in the industry are estimated to fall in a range of $596 billion to $601 billion, up about 1.7% from June’s $589 billion.

Among those fund complexes reporting to IFIC, RBC Asset Management stood out as the leader, with net new sales of long-term funds reported at $192 million. RBC also sold about $147 million worth of money market funds, taking total net sales to $339 million.

Not all of the banks enjoyed such robust sales, however. CIBC posted total net redemptions of $71 million, thanks to outflows in both long term-funds (totalling $59 million) and money market funds ($12 million). BMO was hit by $116 million worth of money market redemptions, eroding long-term fund sales of $51 million and resulting in total net redemptions of $65 million.

Hardest hit was AIM Trimark, though, which saw $193 million in net long-term fund redemptions, with a further $10 million flowing out of money market funds.

Some fund complexes issued sales reports independently.

IGM Financial reported $13.7 million unaudited net redemptions of long-term funds. led by $61.9 million in redemptions at its Mackenzie Financial unit. Investors Group funds posted positive net long-term fund sales of $38.7 million, while the Counsel Group of Funds reported net sales totalling $9.5 million.

Mackenzie did see positive net sales in money market and short duration funds, with net inflows of $87.2 million, nearly 2.5 times higher than the $35.4 million they sold in July 2005. This could indicate investors were simply parking their funds, waiting for a clearer picture to emerge.

Gross sales across all fund categories totalled $421.9 million for Investors Group, $520.1 million for Mackenzie and $24 million at Counsel Group. Across IGM’s business lines, total assets under management ended July at $98 billion.

CI Financial also released its sales data for July, reporting $143 million in net sales of long-term funds across its various business lines. CI Investments recorded net sales of $157 million, while United Financial brought in $2 million. Skylon posted net redemptions of $16 million. CI Financial’s assets under management totalled $57.7 billion.

“We are pleased with the consistently good sales we have posted this spring and summer in the face of the increased variability in financial markets,” CI president and COO, Stephen A. MacPhail, said in a press release. “As a result of net sales and gains across all asset classes, our managed assets gained 1.4% or $784 million in July.”

AGF Management reported net long term fund sales of $60 million, compared to net redemptions of $129.4 million in July 2005. AGF also saw $6.3 million in money market redemptions, cutting overall net sales to $53.7 million. The company reported total mutual fund assets under management of just over $24 billion.

“Our investment performance is very strong and we continue to experience growth in sales while reporting significantly lower redemptions,” said Blake Goldring, chairman and chief executive officer, AGF Management Limited. “All segments of our investment management operations are showing strong year over year growth.”

Filed by Steven Lamb, Advisor.ca, steven.lamb@advisor.rogers.com