Mutual fund AUM topped $2 trillion in August

Mutual fund assets topped the $2-trillion mark in August as net sales and markets both rose, according to data from the Investment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC).

Total mutual fund assets under management (AUM) finished the month at $2.03 trillion, the industry trade group said. Over the past 12 months, mutual fund AUM rose by about $357 million, with assets under the $1.7-trillion mark last August.

Monthly net sales came in at $9.8 billion in August, up from $8.8 billion the previous month. The strong sales, combined with market gains, pushed mutual fund AUM up by $45.7 billion in August, a 2.3% gain.

Sales were up year over year too. Through the first eight months of the year, total mutual fund sales reached $90.6 billion, up from $14.1 billion over the same period last year, IFIC said.

Balanced funds continued to lead the way in sales, with $4.9 billion in monthly net sales for August, little changed from the previous month.

Equity fund sales rose to $2.6 billion for the month, up from just under $1.9 billion in July.

Bond fund sales edged lower, coming in at $1.7 billion in August, down from over $2.0 billion.

And money markets recorded $63 million in net sales, after suffering $446 million in net redemptions for July.

As for ETFs, sales jumped to over $5.0 billion for the month, compared with $3.0 billion in July.

Equity ETF sales climbed from $2.5 billion in July to $3.4 billion in August, IFIC reported.

Bond ETF sales turned positive last month too, recording $1.1 billion in monthly net sales, after suffering $362 million in net redemptions in July.

Year to date, ETF sales are also up from last year, albeit not as dramatically as for mutual funds. Through the first eight months of the year, ETF sales totalled $40.7 billion, up from $31.7 billion in 2020.

Total ETF assets climbed to $324.7 billion in August, up by $11.2 billion, or 3.6%, from July.

Over the past 12 months, ETF assets are up by about 37%, outpacing the gains in the mutual fund space over that same period — mutual fund assets have risen just 21.4% in the past 12 months.

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.