January mutual fund sales are estimated to be between $1.2 billion to $1.7 billion, according to the Investment Funds Institute of Canada.

IFIC reported the estimate based on a sample of preliminary data from some of its members. That sample shows that sales remain very concentrated.

RBC Asset Management Inc. is responsible for about half the total, recording $696 million in net sales for the month.

RBC is far ahead of second place rival TD Asset Management Inc., with $370 million. Dynamic Mutual Funds is a close third at $340 million. Other firms with more than $100 million in net sales include IGM Financial, BMO Funds, CI Investments, and Acuity Funds.

There were also a slew of firms with net redemptions, including $396 million from AIM Trimark Investments. Scotia Securities and AIC recorded notable redemptions, too.

“Sales are in line with expectations for this time of year,” said Joanne De Laurentiis, IFIC’s president & CEO.

“Strong markets, mixed with investors’ appetite for long-term savings, especially RRSPs, boosted assets by about $17 billion in January,” she added. IFIC also estimates that net assets of the industry at the end of January will be in the range of $584 to $589 billion, up approximately 3.0% from last month’s total of $570 billion.