U.S. equity mutual funds continue to bleed outflows at a rapid pace, but investors keep putting money into exchange traded funds this year.
Individual investors are engaging in some “extreme selling” as U.S. stock mutual funds experienced $94.7 billion in redemptions over the four months through September, according to investment-research firm TrimTabs, reports Robert Holmes for TheStreet. In comparison, mutual funds saw $162 billion in outflows in 2008.
Additionally, global funds lost $9 billion from the start of June until the end of August, the heaviest outflows in over two years. Global equity funds have plummeted 15.4% year-to-date compared to the 9.6% drop in the average domestic fund.
According to Morningstar, U.S. equity mutual funds saw $6.9 billion in outflows in September while U.S. ETFs tacked on $4.1 billion. Year to date, ETFs have seen net inflows of about $77 billion. [ETF Assets Gain Ground as Some Hedge Funds Flounder]