Mutual fund sales slumped in December, as equity funds returned to net redemptions amid elevated market turmoil, according to the latest data from the Investment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC).
IFIC said Wednesday that overall net sales came in at $1.33 billion for December, as long-term net sales of $2.0 billion, were tempered by $675.8 million in net redemptions from money market funds. The monthly net sales total was down sharply from $4.3 billion in November. December net sales were also lower compared to $2.9 billion in the same month last year.
The weakness was driven by equity funds, which recorded $874.9 million worth of net redemptions in December, down from net sales of $585.3 million in November.
Meanwhile, balanced funds had monthly net sales of $2.96 billion in December, down modestly from $3.36 billion in November. Bond funds had net sales of just $3.1 million in December, down from $205.9 million last month.
For the full year, overall net sales were $57.8 billion, driven by $61.2 billion in long-term net sales, slightly offset by $3.4 billion in money market fund redemptions.
Balanced funds led the way during the year, with net sales of $50.4 billion, up from $40.4 billion in 2013. Full year net sales for bond funds totalled $2.85 billion, compared to net redemptions of $4.2 billion in 2013. Equity funds had net sales of $4.3 billion for 2014, compared to $5.65 billion in 2013.
IFIC reports that total industry assets under management (AUM) finished the year at $1.14 trillion; which was up by $142 billion, or 14.2%, during the year. However, in December, total industry AUM declined by $2.1 billion, or 0.2%.
Aggregate totals are provided by research firm Investor Economics, based on data from IFIC and other sources.