Mutual fund, ETF assets down in May: IFIC

Mutual fund net redemptions eased in May, and ETF sales rose, but assets declined, according to new data from the Investment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC).

The industry trade group reported that total mutual fund net redemptions came in at $3.8 billion last month, down from $4.6 billion in April.

The balanced category led the way, with $3.8 billion in monthly net redemptions, which was down slightly from $3.94 billion the previous month.

Equity funds were also in redemption territory again last month, recording $2.2 billion worth, down from $2.8 billion in April.

The bond and specialty categories continued to generate positive net sales, but those sales eased a bit month over month.

Only money market funds enjoyed an increase in sales, with net sales rising to $1.25 billion in May, from $992 million in April.

Alongside the net redemptions, mutual fund assets declined by $39.6 billion in the month, a 2.1% drop, to $1.87 trillion.

IFIC also reported that ETF assets declined at a similar rate last month, dropping 2.0% to $337.2 billion by the end of May.

While ETF assets were down by $6.9 billion, this came in the face of positive monthly net sales of $2.4 billion.

Net sales were up slightly from just under $2.1 billion in April, led by an increase in long-term net sales — which jumped from $940 million in April to $1.5 billion in May.

The rise in ETF sales was driven by the equity category, which pivoted from $313 million in net redemptions in April to $565 million in net sales last month.

At the same time, bond ETF sales eased a bit month over month, but still led the industry with $819 million in monthly net sales, down from $860 million in April.

Balanced ETF net sales were little changed in May, and specialty ETF sales dropped from $252 million in April to $19 million in net redemptions.

Despite the decline in both mutual fund and ETF assets in May, for both sides on the industry assets are still up from the start of the year. Mutual fund assets are still up by about 3.1% on the year, and ETF assets are 7.7% higher.

James Langton

James is a senior reporter for Advisor.ca and its sister publication, Investment Executive. He has been reporting on regulation, securities law, industry news and more since 1994.