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RRSP season is off to a solid start, with mutual fund sales for January rebounding from December 2017, according to data published on Friday from the Investment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC).

Net sales for the mutual funds industry were $4.9 billion last month, which is up from $4.0 billion in January 2017, and much stronger than $1.4 billion recorded in December 2017.

Net sales of long-term funds were $5.2 billion in January, while net redemptions of money market funds were $305 million.

By asset class, balanced funds led the way in January with net sales of $2.4 billion. This was double the net sales of balanced funds in December.

Net sales of equity and bond funds also surged in January. Bond funds returned to positive territory last month, recording net sales of $1.1 billion, up from $363.7 million in net redemptions in December 2017. Net sales of equity funds climbed to $1.5 billion in January, up from just $86 million in December 2017.

Assets under management (AUM) for the mutual funds industry totalled $1.49 trillion in January. AUM increased by $9.2 billion or 0.6% compared to December 2017.

Monthly sales data are compiled from IFIC and other sources. Aggregate totals are provided by Toronto-based Strategic Insight.