Mutual fund industry net sales slumped in April, yet assets swelled, as markets recovered, according to the latest data from the Investment Funds Institute of Canada.

IFIC reported that total industry sales came in at $560.8 million, down substantially from the $2.6 billion seen in March, and $2.5 billion in the same month last year. However, April’s result was in line with totals in the previous two years when sales for April were $468 million (2006) and $540 million (2005).

Short-term fund sales were $511.9 million, up from $26.8 million in net redemptions in April 2007. Year-to-date short-term fund sales were $11.2 billion, up from $717.9 million at the same time last year.

Long-term fund sales came in at just $48.9 million in April, and in the year-to-date, long-term fund sales remain in net redemption territory. Long-term funds have seen $1.5 billion in redemptions so far this year, down from $18.9 billion in net sales for the same period last year.

Fund-of-fund sales were resilient in April coming in at $549.3 million, down only $80.1 million from the total in March, IFIC noted.

Canadian fixed income funds were the top selling asset class in the month, bringing in $668.8 million, up from $285.7 million last month and $39 million in April 2007. This displaced the domestic money market category that has led sales every month since September 2007. The Canadian money market funds dropped to the second spot this month with $330.5 million in sales, down from $2.2 billion last month.

While sales were down notably, IFIC reported that total industry assets under management grew by $17.6 billion in April with much of the growth ($17 billion) due to the strong performance in most equity markets. Total industry assets broke the $700 billion mark for the first time since October 2007 coming in at $705.2 billion. Industry assets are also up $7.9 billion from the start of the year and $5.5 billion from this time last year.

Both domestic equity fund and global & international equity fund assets grew by 3.3% from March, despite being in net redemption territory for the month, IFIC said. U.S. equity fund assets grew most impressively, up 6.8% or $1.47 billion from March, though assets are still down 11.3% from last year.

Year-over-year asset growth remained strongest for money market funds in April. Money market assets have grown 41.2% or $19.55 billion since April 2007.

“Improved market performance in April led to a $17 billion increase in assets under management for the industry,” said Pat Dunwoody, IFIC’s vice president, member services and communications, in a release. “Though money market funds, which brought in $512 million, remained popular with investors in April, global balanced fund sales were not far behind at $475 million. We expect that sales will become more diversified over time as investors seek a balance between the relative performance and relative risk of short-term versus long-term funds.”

By company, RBC Asset Management was the top seller in April, with total net sales of $760 million. Dynamic Funds took second spot with $274 million in overall net sales. However, Dynamic had the edge in long-term sales, with $324 million worth to RBC’s $180 million. In fact, Fidelity Investments also nosed out RBC, with $182 million in long-term sales for the month.

AIM Trimark continued to suffer net redemptions, with another $653 million worth in April. CIBC Asset Management had $262 million in monthly redemptions, and IGM was third with $180 million in net redemptions.