Mutual fund sales reached $1.1 billion in May, according to the latest data from the Investment Funds Institute of Canada. Once again, balanced and income funds lead the way.

Net sales for all funds, including re-invested distributions, came in at $1.5 billion for the month. “May’s $1.1 billion in net new sales have propelled the industry’s assets to a record $520 billion,” said Tom Hockin, IFIC’s president & CEO. “As well, net sales of long-term funds were the highest for any May since May of 1998.”

Balanced funds were the biggest sellers in May, with net sales totaling $786 million, followed closely by dividend & income funds with $778 million in net sales. Bond funds also managed $503 million in net sales.

However, the pure equity categories all suffered net redemptions. Foreign equity funds saw $307 million in redemptions, followed by US equities at $219 million, and Canadian equity funds contributed another $185 million in redemptions.

The same trends are evident in the year to date numbers, with almost $5.7 billion of net sales for dividend funds and $5.1 billion of net sales for balanced funds, somewhat offset by $1.5 billion in redemptions from foreign equities, $689 million in US equity redemptions, and $576 million from Canadian equities. Net sales overall total just over $11 billion so far this year, down from $12.8 billion in the same period a year ago.

Total assets under management in May increased 1.7% from April to $520.1 billion. Among the big firms, three of the big banks enjoyed larger than average asset growth (2.3% for BMO, and 2.1% for both RBC and TD), CI managed 1.9% growth and Fidelity was very strong with a 2.3% gain. AGF was weakest among the top 10, with assets gaining just 0.4%.

Among mid-sized firms, PH&N and Dynamic saw solid asset gains. As did, Manulife, Guardian, Standard Life, Acuity, Brandes and Saxon, among smaller players.

AIC was the only firm to see assets decline, dropping 1.7% in the month. There was also weakness in Desjardins and National Bank.