The Markets January 18, 2013

Open-End Fund Inflows Hit $243B in 2012

Morningstar Inc. reported estimated U.S. mutual fund asset flows through December 2012.

Reported by

Long-term open-end funds saw inflows of $243 billion in 2012. Money continued flowing out of actively managed stock funds and into all types of bond funds, with yields across many fixed-income sectors either at or near all-time lows.

Since the end of 2008, assets in taxable-bond funds have more than doubled, climbing from $1 trillion to $2.5 trillion, with approximately 65% of the increase attributable to net inflows.

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When municipal-bond funds are included, inflows for fixed-income funds have exceeded $1 trillion since the beginning of 2008.

Some highlights of the mutual fund flows report are:

2012 outflows from actively managed U.S.-stock mutual funds surpassed those seen in 2008 despite the fact that the S&P 500 was up 16% for the year. Even when exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are included, large-cap U.S.-stock funds have seen net outflows over the trailing five-year period and in each of the last four years.

Intermediate-term bond funds attracted the greatest inflows of any Morningstar category for the fourth year in a row, taking in $110 billion in 2012. This was almost three times the inflows of $37.5 billion seen by the runner-up, short-term bond.

Vanguard and PIMCO captured 61% of net inflows in 2012, compared with 30% in 2011 and 46% in 2009.

The DoubleLine Total Return Bond Fund, which has a Morningstar analyst rating of Neutral, tallied 2012 inflows of $20 billion to edge out the Gold-rated PIMCO Total Return Fund, which collected $18 billion, for the year’s greatest open-end fund inflows. The inclusion of BOND, the ETF incarnation of PIMCO Total Return, which saw inflows of $3.8 billion in 2012, would move PIMCO’s Bill Gross into first place in terms of overall inflows.   

The complete report is here.

Deals & People January 18, 2013

U.S. Bank Names Relationship Manager

Adam Casavant joins U.S. Bank Institutional Trust and Custody in Chicago as a relationship manager.
Reported by

As a member of the bank’s institutional trust and custody division, Casavant is responsible for developing and maintaining client relationships—as well as providing institutional products and services—in Iowa and Madison, Wisconsin. He reports to Alice Weibye, senior vice president and regional manager.

Casavant has seven years’ experience in financial services, most recently serving as product consultant at Northern Trust Company. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Trinity College.

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“With specific expertise in technology solutions and account administration, Adam will be an asset to our clients,” Weibye said.

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