Mutual funds and ETFs recorded positive net sales and asset gains in August, a report from the Securities and Investment Management Association (SIMA) shows.
Released Monday, the report said mutual fund assets totalled $2.4 trillion as of Aug. 31, an increase of $35.9 billion, or 1.5%, from the previous month. Since the start of the year, mutual fund assets have grown by $170.5 billion, or 7.6%.
Mutual fund net sales were positive for the fourth consecutive month, at $3 billion in August, led by bond funds, which gathered $2.2 billion.
Balanced mutual funds recorded $616 million in net sales, followed by specialty mutual funds at $610 million and money-market funds at $25 million.
Equity mutual funds posted net redemptions once again, with $435 million flowing out.
“Mutual funds sales have remained positive every month this year except April, primarily driven by inflows into bond and specialty funds,” the report said.
Meanwhile, ETF assets totalled $630.2 billion as of Aug. 31, up $18.8 billion, or 3.1%, from the month prior. Year to date, they have grown by $112.7 billion, or 21.8%.
ETF net sales were $7.7 billion in August, with equity ETFs dominating at $3.7 billion.
Bond ETFs gathered $1.9 billion in net sales, followed by specialty ETFs at $1.3 billion and balanced funds at $846 million.
Money market ETFs, however, recorded $23 million in net redemptions.
At $73.7 billion, year-to-date ETF net sales “are already close to equalling last year’s full-year total,” SIMA reported.