Net new mutual fund sales for the month of April are estimated to be between minus $1.8 billion to minus $1.4 billion, according to preliminary data released by the Investment Funds Institute of Canada on Friday.

“Net redemptions for the month of April are expected to be about $1.6 billion,” said Tom Hockin, IFIC’s president and CEO, in a statement. He added: “Despite higher values and higher overall assets under management compared to the previous month thanks to higher stock markets, investors appear to be waiting a bit longer before moving to funds to any significant degree,” he added.

IFIC also estimated that net assets of the industry at the end of April will be in the range of $377 to $382 billion, up approximately 2.7% from last month’s total of $369.4 billion.

TThe heaviest redemptions appeared to come from money market funds.

Among the big banks, Royal Bank of Canada suffered the biggest hit, with $332 million in net redemptions last month. CIBC Asset Management reported net redemptions of $167 million; TD Asset Management, $164 million; Scotia Securities Inc., $142-million; National Bank Mutual Funds, $101-million; and BMO Funds, $72-million.

Other companies reporting net redemptions included: AGF Management Ltd., $148 million; Investors Group Inc., $140 million; Fidelity Investments, $129 million; and CI Mutual Funds, $116 million.

Companies with sales in positive territory last month include Manulife Investments with net sales of $87 million; Guardian Group of Funds Ltd., $40 million; and Sentry Select Capital Corp., $36-million.