Morningstar Reports U.S. Mutual Fund and ETF Asset Flows for August 2017

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Sep 26, 2017, 12:43 ET

CHICAGO, Sept. 26, 2017 /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 2017. In August, investors put $8.5 billion into U.S. equity passive funds, down from $10.8 billion in July 2017. On the active front, investors pulled $23.0 billion out of U.S. equity funds, compared with $19.6 billion in the previous month. 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.

Morningstar's report about U.S. asset flows in August is available here. Highlights from the report include:

Taxable bond remained the leading category group in August with $27.5 billion in flows overall. Unlike in June and July, however, active taxable-bond flows surpassed passive ones: $14.1 billion versus $13.3 billion.
The four Morningstar Categories with the highest inflows in August are: intermediate-term bond, foreign large blend, multisector bond, and diversified emerging markets. Large blend did not make the top five categories, reflecting waning interest in U.S. equity.
Among top U.S. fund families, PIMCO was the leader in active flows with $4.1 billion, followed by Vanguard with $1.4 billion. On the passive front, Vanguard was the top fund family, with inflows of $19.3 billion, followed by BlackRock/iShares with inflows of $9.9 billion and Fidelity, who is becoming a stronger contender after multiple rounds of fee cuts.
The two active funds with the highest inflows were the same in August as they were in July: PIMCO Income, which has a Morningstar Analyst Rating™ of Silver, with flows of $3.1 billion, followed by Gold-rated Oakmark International with $911.0 million in flows. The passive funds with the highest inflows were both Vanguard funds: Gold-rated Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund and Gold-rated Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund, which saw respective inflows of $6.2 billion and $2.5 billion.
BlackRock High Yield Bond had the highest outflows in August of $1.4-billion. Growth funds from Fidelity, T. Rowe Price, and American Funds were also subject to large outflows as investors kept moving away from U.S. equity and growth stocks.

To view the complete report, please click here.

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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, retirement plan providers and sponsors, and institutional investors in the private capital markets. Morningstar provides data and research insights on a wide range of investment offerings, including managed investment products, publicly listed companies, private capital markets, and real-time global market data. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its investment advisory subsidiaries, with more than $200 billion in assets under advisement and management as of June 30, 2017. The company has operations in 27 countries.

Morningstar's Manager Research Group consists of various wholly owned subsidiaries of Morningstar, Inc. including, but not limited to, Morningstar Research Services LLC. Morningstar's Manager Research Group produces various ratings including the Morningstar Analyst Rating for funds and the Morningstar Quantitative Rating for funds. The Analyst Rating is derived from a qualitative assessment process performed by a manager research analyst, whereas the Morningstar Quantitative Rating uses a machine-learning model based on the decision-making processes of Morningstar's analysts, their past ratings decisions, and the data used to support those decisions. In both cases, the ratings are forward-looking assessments and include assumptions of future events, which may or may not occur or may differ significantly from what was assumed. The Analyst Ratings and Quantitative Ratings are statements of opinions, subject to change, are not to be considered as guarantees, and should not be used as the sole basis for investment decisions. This press release is for informational purposes only; references to securities should not be considered an offer or solicitation to buy or sell the securities.

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