Waves of redemptions continue to pound the mutual fund industry, according to the latest numbers from the Investment Funds Institute of Canada.

IFIC reports that, based on a sample of preliminary data from some of its members, net new sales for the month of September are estimated to be between negative $1.3 billion and negative $0.9 billion. “Net redemptions for September are expected to be about $1.1 billion,” said Tom Hockin, IFIC’s president and CEO. “Weak equity markets continue to discourage sales,” he observed.

The fund industry continues to face a “perfect storm”, with both low interest rates and weak equity markets, pushing investors away from both money market and long-term funds.

The redemptions look to be relatively well spread among the industry’s big players. Among those big companies, AIM Funds Management, is the only one with positive net sales, albeit just $14 million worth. This was surpassed only by Elliott & Page and Guardian, which generated $28 million and $24 million in positive net sales, respectively. No other firm managed to eek out even as much as $10 million in positive net sales.

The big players saw hefty redemptions instead. RBC Funds led the way with $226 million in net redemptions, followed closely by AGF Funds, at $215 million. Investors Group, Fidelity and C.I. all reported more than $100 million in net redemptions.

IFIC also estimates that net assets of the industry at the end of September will be in the range of $378 to $383 billion, down approximately 4.8% from last month’s total of $400.3 billion. Much of this will be due to the market’s brutal performance in the month.