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Mutual fund net sales slumped in September, and finished the third quarter at notably lower levels compared with a year ago, according to data published Thursday by the Investment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC).

Overall mutual fund net sales came in at $1.89 billion last month, which is down from $2.7 billion in August, and $2.19 billion in September 2015.

Virtually all of last month’s net sales came in long-term funds, as there was just $25.8 million in net redemptions from money market funds during September.

By asset class, balanced funds continued to lead net sales in September, with $2.28 billion worth. This was down slightly from net sales of $2.36 billion in August. Net sales of bond funds actually ticked up a bit in September, hitting the $1.0 billion mark, up from $900 million in August.

Equity funds, however, saw net redemptions rise in September, reaching $1.33 billion, up from net redemptions of $513.5 million in August.

Through the first nine months of 2016, fund industry net sales are down to $23.8 billion from $49.8 billion in the same period a year ago, as balanced fund sales are much lower year over year, and equity funds are in net redemptions.

Nevertheless, total mutual fund assets under management (AUM) for September climbed to $1.32 trillion, up $7 billion, or 0.53%, from August.

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

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