The Markets October 12, 2011

ETFs Add $4B in September

U.S. exchange-traded funds, which have had just one month of net outflows in the last 12 months, added $4.1 billion in September, according to Morningstar.
Reported by

Total industry assets dipped below $1 trillion in September for the first time since December 2010.  

For the second consecutive month, taxable-bond ETFs had the strongest inflows of any Morningstar ETF asset class, collecting $5 billion. Behind taxable-bond offerings, international-stock ETFs, with $2.4 billion, realized the second-largest asset-class-level inflow in September.  

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After managing inflows of just $394 million in August, U.S.-stock ETFs gave up $5.3 billion in September. Four of the five largest individual ETF outflows belonged to funds in the U.S.-stock asset class.   

Commodities ETFs experienced modest outflows of $200 million in September.   

To view the complete report, visit http://www.global.morningstar.com/septflows11.
The Markets October 12, 2011

Long-Term Funds See Positive Flows in September

Long-term mutual fund flows turned positive in September for the first time in three months, with inflows of $3.8 billion, according to Morningstar.
Reported by

However, the inflows do not necessarily mirror positive sentiment, says Morningstar, as inflows were tepid across most asset classes and U.S.-stock funds experienced outflows. Furthermore, outflows from money market funds no longer appear to be flowing into long-term mutual funds. Year-to-date, including another $14.1 billion in September, investors redeemed about $70.0 billion more from money market funds than they added to long-term mutual funds.  

While U.S.-stock funds continued their run of outflows, losing another $6.9 billion during the month, September was the best month for the asset class since May. However, with the exception of large-blend funds, the eight other major domestic-equity categories all suffered outflows.   

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International-stock funds saw positive, yet modest inflows of $3.2 billion. Diversified emerging-markets funds again accounted for the majority of these inflows. The category recorded inflows of $2.7 billion, its greatest monthly intake since March 2011.   

Taxable-bond funds bounced back in September with inflows of $3.5 billion after shedding $12.0 billion in August, but this monthly inflow is well below the three-year monthly average of $16.1 billion for the asset class.   

Municipal-bond funds enjoyed their best month in nearly a year with inflows of $1.7 billion.  

To view the complete report, visit http://www.global.morningstar.com/septflows11.

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