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

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Oct 19, 2017, 12:00 ET

CHICAGO, Oct. 19, 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 September 2017. In September, investors put $12.7 billion into U.S. equity passive funds, up from $8.5 billion in August 2017. On the active front, investors pulled $18.5 billion out of U.S. equity funds, compared with $23.0 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 September is available here. Highlights from the report include:

Taxable bond remained the leading category group in September with $34.9 billion in flows overall, a significant increase from $27.5 billion in the previous month. Unlike in August, however, passive taxable-bond flows surpassed active ones: $20.5 versus $14.4 billion.
After sustaining a $4.2 billion outflow in August, sector equity saw $10.5 billion of inflow in September, driven by the real estate Morningstar Category. International equity received diminished flows of $9.8 billion compared with $16.1 billion during the previous month.
The three Morningstar Categories with the highest inflows in September are intermediate-term bond, foreign large blend, and real estate. The three Categories with the largest outflows are large growth, large value, and allocation—50 percent to 70 percent equity.
Among top U.S. fund families, PIMCO was the leader in active flows with $3.2 billion. Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, and T. Rowe Price sustained outflows from their active funds. On the passive front, Vanguard was the top fund family, with inflows of $28.1 billion, followed by BlackRock/iShares with inflows of $18.5 billion.
The two active funds with the highest inflows were PIMCO Income, which has a Morningstar Analyst Rating™ of Silver, with flows of $2.7 billion, followed by Bronze-rated Vanguard Growth and Income Fund with $2.2 billion in flows. On the passive front, newly-created Vanguard REIT II Index attracted the highest flows of $6.3 billion immediately after its inception, boosting overall flows for the entire real estate category and sector-equity category group. Silver-rated Vanguard Total Bond Market II Index Fund and Gold-rated Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund followed, with respective inflows of $4.0 billion and $2.5 billion.
Fidelity Series Emerging Markets had the highest outflows—$1.8 billion—among active funds in September. Among passive funds, Gold-rated Vanguard Institutional Index Fund and PowerShares NASDAQ-100 Index Tracking ETF had the highest outflows, $1.2 billion and $1.0 billion, respectively.

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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