Mutual fund sales came in a little stronger for the first quarter this year, compared with 2014, the Investment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC) said Friday.
Overall industry net sales for March were $9.3 billion, IFIC reports, which pushed first quarter net sales to $25.4 billion, up from $22.6 billion in the same period last year.
March sales were down compared to February, which generated overall net sales of $10.8 billion, but they were higher compared to March 2014 when net sales reached $7.7 billion.
In March, long-term fund net sales were $9.9 billion, and year-to-date net sales for long-term funds were $26.3 billion. Money market funds remained in net redemptions in March, with $595.4 million worth, and net redemptions for the first quarter totalled $878.5 million.
Balanced funds continued to lead the way in March with monthly net sales of $7.4 billion; although this was down from $8.6 billion in the previous month. Bond funds ranked second with net sales of almost $1.4 billion in March, and equity funds net sales reached $888.3 million.
Year-to-date, net sales for balanced funds totalled $20.3 billion, equity funds recorded net sales of $3.4 billion, and bond funds boasted $1.5 billion worth.
Total mutual fund assets under management (AUM) for March were $1.22 trillion, up by just $2.4 billion, or 0.2%, from the previous month.
Sales data is compiled from IFIC and other sources. Aggregate totals are provided by Investor Economics.