Net sales of mutual fund retreated in April even as industry assets ticked higher, according to data published on Wednesday from the Investment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC).
Total net sales for April were $459 million, down from $2.6 billion in March, and lower compared to sales of $2.7 billion in April 2017.
Long-term fund net sales totalled $370 million in April, and money market fund net sales totalled $89 million.
Equity funds’ net sales in April totalled $260 million, followed by specialty funds with $226.2 million.
Equity funds’ net sales in March totalled $937 million.
The other major asset classes, balanced and bond funds, slipped into net redemptions during April.
Balanced funds’ net redemptions totalled $104 million in net redemptions, compared with net sales of $1.4 billion in March.
Bond funds’ net redemptions totalled $12 million in April, down from net sales of $127 million in March.
Despite the decline in net sales, Canada’s mutual fund industry still managed a modest increase in total mutual fund assets under management (AUM).
Total mutual fund AUM for April were $1.49 billion, compared to $1,483 billion in March; an increase of $2.4 billion, or 0.2%.
Since April 2017, total mutual fund AUM have increased by $66.6 billion or 4.7%.
Monthly sales data are compiled from IFIC and other sources. Aggregate totals are provided by Toronto-based Strategic Insight.