Mutual fund net sales in July totalled $854 million, according to the latest data from the Investment Funds Institute of Canada.

The total excludes re-invested distributions of $614.9 million. Net sales for all funds, including re-invested distributions, reached $1.5 billion.

Long-term funds represented $678 million of the sales total, with money market funds contributing the rest. Balanced funds led the way, with $577.6 million in monthly net sales. Dividend & income funds took a distant second place, generating $180.4 million in net sales.

Both Canadian and U.S. equity funds were in the red for the month however, recording $178 million and $70 million in net redemptions, respectively.

“Year-to-date net sales stand at $12.2 billion,” said Joanne De Laurentiis, IFIC’s president & CEO. “Balanced funds continued to be the fund category of choice for investors last month, with balanced funds accounting for more than 67% of total sales in July.”

In the year-to-date, balanced funds are also the strongest category, with $6.8 billion in net sales, followed by dividend funds at just under $4 billion. The Canadian equity category has now recorded more than $1 billion in net redemptions for the year.

Total assets under management increased in July to $599.2 billion, up 1.7% from $589 billion in June. Assets are up 10% from last July’s figure of $544.5 billion.

Among the larger firms, RBC Asset Management was a winner once again, with assets rising 2.7% in the month. Most of its major rivals had about average asset increases. AIM Trimark was notably weak, with assets rising just 0.7% in the month.

Among smaller firms, Acuity Funds saw assets rise 3.2%, and Standard Life was up 4%. AIC, HSBC and National Bank were among the firms with below average asset increases.