Mutual fund net sales reached $438.8 million in November, driven by almost $3 billion in long-term net sales, according to the latest data from the Investment Funds Institute of Canada.

IFIC said that the industry recorded positive net sales in November, compared with net redemptions of $291.4 million in October and net redemptions of $977.2 million in the same month last year. Long-term funds drove the net sales, as $2.95 billion in long-term sales more than offset $2.51 billion in money market net redemptions.

Long-term sales were up from $2.24 billion in the previous month, and much higher than in the same month last year when long-term funds recorded net redemptions of $2.36 billion. Year-to-date, long-term sales are now up to $14.95 billion, compared with net redemptions of $11.62 billion at the same point last year.

Balanced funds led the way in net sales in November at $1.97 billion, IFIC said, which is up from $1.62 billion in October. In the year-to-date, balanced fund sales are now sitting at $9.47 billion, compared with $362.2 million in net redemptions at this point last year.

Also, bond fund sales were $1.46 billion in November, up from $1.14 billion in October, whereas equity funds remained in net redemptions. Equity fund redemptions totaled $516.3 million for the month, relatively unchanged from October.

RBC led the way with $652.6 million in long-term net sales during the month, followed by TD Asset Management at $620 million. However, RBC also had $1.15 billion in redemptions from its’ money market funds, leaving it with $500 million in overall net redemptions.

Overall, Fidelity Investments Canada ULC was the top-selling firm, with $327.4 million in net sales, comprised of $367 million in long-term net sales and just $39.5 million in money market redemptions. Dynamic Mutual Funds was a close second, with $314 million in overall net sales.

IFIC also said that total assets under management hit $586.3 billion in November, up by $13.8 billion, or 2.4%, from the previous month and $81.5 billion or 16.1% from the previous year.

IE