Mutual fund sales declined in March as RRSP season came to an end, according to the latest data from the Investment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC).
The fund industry recorded net sales of $7.7 billion in March, which is down from $9.3 billion in the previous month. However, monthly net sales were stronger this year than they were in 2013, when sales came in under $6 billion for March. For the first quarter, net sales were $22.6 billion, up from just under $19 billion in the same period last year.
Long-term funds’ generated monthly net sales of $7.9 billion, and money market funds had net redemptions of $142.6 million in March. Balanced funds were the top-selling asset class during the month, with net sales of $5.65 billion, down from $7.4 billion last month.
Equity funds added another $1.5 billion in monthly sales, compared with $2.0 billion last month. For the first quarter, equity fund net sales are up to $5.1 billion this year, compared to sales of just $1.17 billion for the same period last year.
Bond funds saw net sales of $258.7 million in March, compared to net redemptions of $228.4 million in February.
IFIC also reports that total mutual fund assets under management (AUM) finished the month at $1.06 trillion, up from $1.045 trillion in the previous month; an increase of $13.8 billion, or 1.3%.
Data for the report is compiled from IFIC and other sources, and aggregate totals are provided by Investor Economics.