Overall mutual fund sales were essentially flat for 2015, as both long-term fund net sales and money market fund redemptions slipped from the previous year, according to the latest data from the Investment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC).

IFIC announced on Wednesday that total net sales for the year reached $57.9 billion, up slightly from the $57.6 billion recorded in 2014. Net sales for December were $1.27 billion, which was more or less in line with the same month in 2014, but was down sharply form net sales of $3.76 billion in November 2015.

Long-term funds recorded net sales of $1.07 billion in December, while money market funds were $200 million. For the full year, long-term funds achieved net sales of $58.3 billion, whereas money markets had net redemptions of $400 million. This was down from $61.2 billion and $3.6 billion, respectively, in 2014.

By asset class, balanced funds led the way in both the month of December, and for the full year. Net sales for the category totalled $1.76 billion in the month, pushing the full year total to $47.1 billion. This was actually down a bit compared to net sales of $50.5 billion in 2014.

Equity funds recorded $38 million in net redemptions in December, but racked up full-year net sales of $5.3 billion, a substantial increase from $4.3 billion in 2014.

Bond funds were also in net redemptions in December, with $684 million worth. Yet, they also had positive net sales of $2.75 billion for all of 2015, down slightly from $2.85 billion in 2014.

The mutual fund industry finished the year with assets under management of $1.23 trillion, which was down by 0.24% from the previous month, but remains up by 7.3%, or $90.1 billion, from the start of the year.

Monthly sales data are compiled from IFIC and other sources. Aggregate totals are provided by Investor Economics Inc.