The mutual fund shops that dominate the ETF business were out front of the flows race again last month, even as both passive net inflows and active net outflows slowed. Meanwhile, August was also a big month for Lord Abbett [profile].

F. William McNabb III The Vanguard Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Today Chicago-based investment research specialist Morningstar released its "Morningstar Direct Asset Flows Commentary: United States" report for August 2016. Alina Lamy, senior analyst for markets research, again penned the report.

Vanguard [profile], per M*'s estimates, was the number one flows winner, with $23.935 billion in net inflows last month. (That's 11 months in a row on top for Vanguard.) The rest of the top five August flow winners were: BlackRock [profile] (including iShares [profile]), $9.91 billion; State Street Global Advisors (SSgA [profile]), $2.154 billion; Invesco [profile] (including PowerShares [profile]), $1.686 billion; and Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA [profile]) $1.347 billion.

Proportionately, per M*'s estimates, Lord Abbett was on top with inflows amounting to 0.98 percent of its AUM. The other top August inflow winners, proportionately, were: DoubleLine [profile], 0.90 percent of AUM; BlackRock, 0.86 percent; Schwab [profile], 0.79 percent; and AB [profile], 0.76 percent.

On the flip side, per M*'s estimates, the biggest net outflow sufferers in August were: Franklin Templeton [profile], $4.121 billion; GMO [profile], $1.947 billion; Fidelity [profile], $1.874 billion; Harris' Oakmark [profile], $1.687 billion; and Dodge & Cox [profile] $1.548 billion.

Proportionately, per M*'s estimates, the biggest net outflow sufferers in August were: GMO, 3.42 percent of AUM; Oakmark, 2.52 percent; Harbor [profile], 1.29 percent; Franklin, 1.06 percent; and Voya [profile], 0.93 percent.

Industrywide, M* estimates that long-term active mutual funds suffered $18.007 billion in net outflows in August, a 38-percent drop from July. Meanwhile, passive funds brought in $43.815 billion in net inflows in August, a 34-percent drop from July. And money funds suffered $5.176 billion in net outflows in August, compared to $17.941 billion in net inflows in July.

Within long-term, active funds, the winning categories in August were: taxable bond funds, $12.578 billion in net inflows; municipal bond funds, $6.78 billion; and commodities, $611 million.

Meanwhile, active, long-term U.S. equity funds suffered $25.399 in net outflows in August, M* estimates. Other net suffering active categories were: international equity, $7.377 billion in net outflows; allocation, $2.851 billion; sector equity, $1.952 billion; and alternatives, $395 million. 

Stay ahead of the news ... Sign up for our email alerts now
CLICK HERE