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Canadian mutual fund net sales were negative again in January, while assets under management (AUM) increased by $49.9 billion, or 3.5%, from the month prior.

The January numbers from the Investment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC) were an improvement from much larger negative net sales in recent months. December’s net redemptions of $7.9 billion led to a monthly decline in AUM.

January saw negative net sales of $53 million, with net assets increasing to $1.47 trillion.

Bond funds saw the largest inflows, with $1.18 billion in net sales, while balanced funds saw net redemptions of $1.69 billion.

ETF assets totalled $164.2 billion at the end of last month. Assets increased by $7.6 billion, or 4.8%, from December. ETFs recorded net sales of $904 million in January, compared to $2.18 billion in December.

The mutual fund data reflects the activity of Canadian retail investors, while the ETF data includes retail and institutional investors, an IFIC release said.

A more detailed breakdown of inflows can be found in the organization’s news release.