Mutual fund net sales for March came in at more than $1 billion, according to estimates from the Investment Funds Institute of Canada.

IFIC reported Monday that, based on a sample of preliminary data from some of its members, net sales of mutual funds for the month are estimated to be between $1.12 billion and $1.62 billion.

Dynamic Mutual Funds led the way with $534 million in monthly net sales, followed by Fidelity Investments Canada ULC at $467 million, with TD Asset Management and Scotia Securities close behind at $378 million and $356 million in overall net sales, respectively.

RBC led the long-term net sales for the month at $805 million, but this was more than offset by $842 million in redemptions from its’ money market funds. TD was second in long-term sales and Dynamic ranked third.

“Canadians invested roughly $12 billion in long term funds over the first quarter of 2010 with over $5 billion of the total coming from new fund investment rather than rebalancing activity,” said Pat Dunwoody, vice president of member services and communications with IFIC.

IFIC also estimates that net assets of the mutual fund industry for March will be between $607.4 billion and $612.4 billion, up approximately 2.16% from last month’s total of $597 billion.

IE