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

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Sep 16, 2016, 12:35 ET

CHICAGO, Sept. 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 August 2016. Assets continued to exit active U.S.-equity funds, with an estimated $25.4 billion in outflows in August, though down from July's $32.9 billion. Passive U.S.-equity funds persisted in attracting investor money, with an estimated inflow of $16.4 billion in August, about half of July's $33.8 billion intake. 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 August:

Total international-equity asset flows for August consisted of an estimated $7.3 billion outflow from developed markets and a $6.2 billion inflow to emerging markets.
Taxable- and municipal-bond funds accumulated flows, reflecting investors' preference for a steady income stream: $27.8 billion and $7.4 billion, respectively. Commodity funds saw a trend reversal in August with a $1.0 billion outflow from passive funds.
The diversified emerging-markets category has consistently been on the top-flowing list for the past few months; in August, total flows were $5.5 billion. Factors such as stronger currencies, diminishing worries about China, and young populations driving more potential for growth going forward, are top contributors.
The top Morningstar category remains unchanged from July: intermediate-term bond. The bottom five categories were also little changed from last month, with large growth, world allocation, and Europe stock sustaining the largest outflows. WisdomTree Europe Hedged Equity and its Deutsche counterpart, Deutsche X-trackers MSCI Europe Hedged, continued to suffer outflows.
Of the top 10 U.S. fund families, Vanguard and State Street were joined by T. Rowe Price in August to be the only firms to see flows into active strategies. American Funds continued to suffer for the third consecutive month, seeing $1.5 billion in outflows in August.
Vanguard continued to lead the way for passive inflows, gathering $20.7 billion in August.
PIMCO saw two of its funds on the top-flowing list in August. PIMCO Income Fund, which has a Morningstar Analyst Rating™ of Silver, led flows into active funds with an estimated $1.4 billion. The highest inflow to a passive fund went to Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund, which took in an estimated $4.6 billion in August.

To view the complete report, please click here. 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 530,000 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 $185 billion in assets under advisement and management as of June 30, 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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Media Contact:
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SOURCE Morningstar, Inc.