Morningstar Reports U.S. Mutual Fund and ETF Asset Flows for April 2016

Taxable- and municipal-bond funds lead inflows by category group

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May 16, 2016, 01:59 ET

CHICAGO, May 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment research, today reported estimated U.S. mutual fund and exchange-traded fund (ETF) asset flows for April 2016. Investors continued to gravitate toward fixed income in April, adding $22.8 billion to taxable-bond funds and $5.9 billion to municipal-bond funds. Meanwhile, all equity category groups sustained outflows on the heels of weak U.S. corporate earnings and a disappointing employment report. Active equity funds bore the brunt of these outflows. Morningstar estimates net flow for mutual funds by computing the change in assets not explained by the performance of the fund and net flow for ETFs by computing the change in shares outstanding.

Highlights from Morningstar's report about U.S. asset flows in April:

International-equity funds posted their first outflow since October 2014. Although international-equity flows had been positive until April, they have significantly decreased and are well below the inflow levels seen in the first half of 2015.
American Funds overtook Fidelity in April to become the second-largest fund company in terms of assets under management, after Vanguard. American Funds and Vanguard were the only firms with sizable active-fund inflows; Vanguard, iShares, DFA, and Fidelity enjoyed passive inflows.
Intermediate-term bond held on to its spot as the Morningstar Category with the highest inflows for another month, followed by large blend, which was buoyed by inflows to Vanguard Total Stock Market Index, which has a Morningstar Analyst Rating™ of Gold, and iShares MSCI USA Minimum Volatility. After a $10.7 billion inflow in March, high-yield bond disappeared from the list of top-flowing categories in April.
Metropolitan West Total Return Bond, which has a Gold Morningstar Analyst Rating, reclaimed its spot as the active fund with the greatest monthly inflows after a notable absence. Each of the five top-flowing passive funds were Vanguard offerings.

To view the complete report, please visit http://www.global.morningstar.com/aprilflows16. For more information about Morningstar Asset Flows, please visit http://global.morningstar.com/assetflows.

The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar and/or its content providers; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete, or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

About Morningstar, Inc.
Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment research in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The company offers an extensive line of products and services for individual investors, financial advisors, asset managers, and retirement plan providers and sponsors. Morningstar provides data on approximately 525,000 investment offerings, including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles, along with real-time global market data on nearly 18 million equities, indexes, futures, options, commodities, and precious metals, in addition to foreign exchange and Treasury markets. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its investment advisory subsidiaries, with more than $180 billion in assets under advisement and management as of March 31, 2016. The company has operations in 27 countries.

Analyst Ratings are subjective in nature and should not be used as the sole basis for investment decisions. Analyst Ratings are based on Morningstar analysts' current expectations about future events and therefore involve unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause Morningstar's expectations not to occur or to differ significantly from what was expected. Morningstar does not represent its Analyst Ratings to be guarantees nor should they be viewed as an assessment of a fund's or the fund's underlying securities' creditworthiness. This press release is for informational purposes only; it should not be considered an offer or solicitation to buy or sell the mutual funds noted within.

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SOURCE Morningstar, Inc.